Brotherhood
by Let me tell you a story 101
Summary: Lydia lives with her boyfriend Stiles for about two years now. Everything is alright until they decide to take a trip to Italy where Stiles' shady past begins to unreveal with the arrival of a tall English man.
1. Chapter 1 - Pilot

Lydia was sitting behind the big window in the bedroom, covered in blankets and holding a warm mug of hot chocolate. The first snowflakes were falling down and stuck to the glass. Lydia stared into the dark night full of colorful lights of the vibrant city. She let her thoughts flow without control, letting old memories draw small smiles on her face.

Lydia turned her head towards the hall when she heard keys unlocking the front door. It was him. Stiles. He was just coming from work as he did every day, Monday to Saturday. That impressed Lydia somehow and left her wondering why her boyfriend was such a workaholic. Stiles always gave her a short explanation as: I want to save up for the future; I thought I might get promoted... and then changed the topic.

After a while, Lydia stopped asking and created a theory on her own. He doesn't want to deal something. To face something in his life. So he works and works to bring his mind of off it. Sure, Lydia was curious but she believed that he'll tell her himself some day.

"Hey, Lyds," Stiles said, still standing in the hallway, hanging his coat on the wall.

"Hey, babe," she said in return, amazed as always by his intuition. He always knew when she was nearby.

"Have you eaten yet?" Stiles asked, entering the bedroom. Lydia put her mug down and looked at him, shaking her head. He approached her and gave her a small kiss on the top of her head, taking the empty mug into his left hand.

"Should I cook something?" Stiles smiled at her, retreating back to the door.

"You could, yeah," Lydia said and followed him down the hall.

"Alright," he said, not turning around.

Lydia poured themselves two glasses of wine and watched Stiles prepare dinner. She loved watching him to do random household stuff because whatever he did, it seemed to be just so percise and perfect as if he had done these things for the trillionth time.

"Lyds." Stiles interrupted her thoughts. "Hm?" she hummed, her eyes locked at his swift fingers peeling a potato.

"I was thinking that we could travel to Europe... Skiing or something, you know?"

"That's a great idea!" Lydia lightened up which made Stiles smirk.

"Where would you want to go?" Stiles asked.

"The Alps? Like Italy?"

Stiles didn't respond for a second but then he turned around at her with a smile.

"Why don't you look something up?" he suggested.

"Sure," she agreed and went for her phone.

"You wanna go during Christmas?" Lydia asked.

"Yeah, why not."

"Didn't you say that you originally come from Italy? We could look for some relatives of yours. Or just visit your hometown." Lydia smiled but it faded quickly when she noticed Stiles' frown.

"There's nobody left," he said causally, "My family isn't big and if there's somebody... they aren't probably even there anymore."

Stiles continued in his fast movement of hands which hypnotized Lydia for a few seconds. Suddenly, she felt somehow sad. Sad for him. Lydia had always lots of friends around, a big family and other people who expressed their love for her. But Stiles never talked about anybody, she never met any relatives of his or some old buddies. It was like he was all alone in this world.

"And what about your hometown?" Lydia asked at once, making Stiles stop slicing vegetables. He looked up from the knife he was holding and glanced back to his girlfriend with a patient smile. "Lyds, I just want to enjoy some snow and you. I don't wanna make this trip about me and some stupid village I was brought up in."

"So you are a village boy!" Lydia said with excitement, merely satisfied with herself that she made him share something about his past.

"Yeah, what a piece of information, huh," Stiles chuckled and shook his head. Lydia stood up and walked up to him to lean against the fridge. She eyed him until he looked at her, too. He raised his eyebrows at her, asking a silent 'what'. She shrugged and said quietly: "You aren't telling me much about your past, Stiles. You can't be surprised when I'm excited about such things like that."

Stiles put the knife down and approached her, never letting his eyes off her. "My past isn't that interesting, why should I bore you with some ordinary details of my life when there's the future ahed of us. Let's enjoy that, shall we?"

"But...," she murmured.

"For the bright and happy future," Stiles said and raised his glass.

...

 _"Stolos!" the old man cried out, worried about his son. A boy appeared in the bushes in front of the wooden house and ran towards his father._

 _"Yes, father?" he asked, breathing heavily from the running._

 _"Come home, they are in the village. You must hurry and hide."_

 _"But father!"_

 _"Don't question me, or they'll take you from me! Just like they took Michendros!"_

 _The young boy's eyes filled with fear and obeyed his father immediately. He hurried to the house and found a small space under the wooden floor to hide. He covered his mouth with the his palm and closed the eyes shut in fright. It took only several minutes for the 'bad men' to bang furiously on the front door. Stolos could've heard the footsteps of his father and then the creaking door getting opened._

 _"Where is he?!" a harsh voice demanded loudly._

 _"What are you talking about?" Stolos heard the trembling voice of his father._

 _"Your son. We know that you have another son! He's supposed to be ten this year, am I right?"_

 _"What...," the old man muttered._

 _"Don't bullshit us. Last time we've been here, we've taken just one boy... But you owe the empire more than that..."_

 _"It was last year... Give me more time, please...," Stolos' father begged._

 _"Tear this place apart! He has to be somewhere!" the soldier ordered. Stolos heard several men walking above him which made his breath quicken. It were the worst minutes of uncertainty and then... They found him, ripped the wood from the floor, dragged him out of his small hole and threw him on the ground._

 _"Well, look at that!" the soldier exclaimed with a smirk, "it seems that you've tried to hide him!"_

 _Stolos' heart speeded up as he saw the soldier point his sword at his father who knelt on his knees and cried for mercy. Stolos couldn't move. He was frozen at the spot. He was just able to watch as the man in the uniform pierced the older man with his sword. At once, the child started screaming. Fear, grief, pain, agony, desperateness, hopelessness. Everything at the same moment._

 _"No! Nonono! Father!" Stolos cried, feeling utterly alone and helpless. He watched the motionless body on the floor, blood slowly making its way out of his father's guts. His vision getting blurry from the tears. His head becoming dizzy, not sure what's real or not. The only clear thing was the scream. The scream of a small child who has lost everything._

 _..._

Stiles woke up suddenly, feeling his heart pounding furiously. He looked at his right side where the redhead slept peacefully which made him feel safe, again. He run his fingers across his face, realizing that his cheeks were wet. He was crying.


	2. Chapter 2 - Lydia's encounter

Lydia woke up earlier than Stiles, so she decided to make coffee for them before she headed to work. Lydia worked in a small coffee shop named Smelly Cat. It was just a few blocks away from the apartment, therefore she could've slept until eight a.m. Even though, she wasn't earning big money, she grew to like the warm atmosphere of that place and felt just fine with working there. In her spare time, Lydia was teaching maths to children because she felt a little guilty that Stiles worked harder for their comfortable way of life.

Lydia carried Stiles his favorite cup to bed where he had been still asleep, covered in blankets. She sat at the edge of the bed and laid her palm onto his shoulder. His eyes immediately shot up open as if they awaited some kind of danger. Stiles' gaze softened when he noticed Lydia by his side. He could have recognized the slight confusion in Lydia's gaze which followed with a simple question: "What's wrong?"

Stiles sat up and noticed his cup in her fingers, beginning to salivate over the hot coffee she held. Lydia handed him the cup, her questioning eyes never leaving his, though. He had a sip and swallowed the warm liquid down the throat.

"Nothing's wrong. Why?"

"Your eyes are swollen up. Like from crying," she said with a worried voice, touching his red-ish skin under the right eye. Stiles squeezed her hand and said with a chuckle: I must have sleep-cried when my body felt you had left the bed."

"Haha, funny."

...

Later that day in work, Lydia had a short break with her colleague and also her best friend, Allison. They sat down behind the coffee shop and Allison withdrew her package of cigarettes from her pocket. She handed one to Lydia who accepted it with a smile.

"So," Allison began, letting a cloud of smoke out of her mouth, "how's your fairytail relationship going?"

"It's alright. Well, you know Stiles... A sweetheart, really, but still protective about his past. I almost feel like I'm in a cheesy fantasy novel for teenagers. But yeah, I suppose it's nothing serious."

"You may have an own Edward at home and you just let it go?"

"I didn't say I let it go... I'm just giving him time."

"Lyds," Allison said, looking straight into her friend's eyes, "it's been two years."

"Shut up, A. Look, we are planning a trip to Italy. A nice hotel in Ega Eggen. And I think that I'll find out something there..."

"Oh, really? How nice," Allison said mockingly with a sarcastic smile.

"Shut up, would you?"

"Whatever, hon." Allison rolled her eyes at the redhead but kept a smile on her face.

"What about you?" Lydia asked, changing the topic.

"Eh, not much. It's like guys don't notice me at all. I was thinking to try the gay thing or something."

"You can't just 'try to be gay', Allison."

"What do you know? I might have been gay all time along."

"Yeah, sure," Lydia scoffed and threw the cigarette on the ground, stepping on it with her shoe. "I'm going inside, what about you?"

"Yeah, me, too. Gimme a sec."

They went inside and began working again. It was a quiet day and there haven't been many customers, which meant ending earlier for Lydia.

"Hey, Lyds. Do that guy sitting at number four and then head home. I'll close up," Allison said, nodding to table four.

"Are you sure?" Lydia asked, feeling bad leaving her friend with all the work behind.

"Yeah, don't worry." She send a reassuring smile to the redhead and walked away to another customer. Lydia shrugged and approached the man who was reading a book whilst drinking his espresso. Her eyes fell on the red cover of the book. She couldn't read the title, though. The man must have noticed her standing by him for oddly too long because he lovered the red book and looked up at her with his dark eyes. A smile appeared on his lips when he saw Lydia's embarrassed gaze, realizing that she had been staring.

"I'm sorry," she laughed awkwardly, "I was just wondering what book you have here... Might have stared a bit, though."

"Oh, that's alright," he chuckled and ran his hand down his growing beard, "it is a novel by Henri Barbusse. Under fire. Must say that it isn't exactly a nice story to read but I find it rather interesting."

"Haven't heard of that, should I give it a try?" Lydia asked politely, her eyes scanning the table for any dirty dishes to bus.

"Well, you're quite young, you better enjoy joyful literature," he said kindly, finishing his coffee," the coffee was quite exquisite. I'll be sure returning to this cozy place."

Lydia grinned at him and took away his empty cup. "We are looking forward to your next visit, sir."

Lydia returned to the bar where Allison was peeking at table four behind the coffee machine. She stopped the redhead and nodded to the man: "He's a candy for the eye, don't you think?"

"I guess, but I prefer clean shaven," Lydia said, remembering her boyfriend's face, covered in little cute moles. That was actually the first thing she noticed at him. The moles. But don't mistake it for a romantic fairytail. Lydia had met Stiles in a dancing club which was filled with people that night. Lydia had already a few drinks and she felt the barriers to fall down. Her friends dragged her out on the dancing floor, although Lydia would had rather stayed at the bar for a few more drinks. But that didn't matter much, she danced anyways. Suddenly, somebody bumped into her and Lydia, not having quite a clear head, grabbed the one's arm and began dancing with that person. That person ended up being Stiles and she had made out with him several times during that night.

Lydia shrugged at the memory and went to grab her coat to finally leave. She said a quick bye to her colleague and chose the back exit. It was already dark outside, even though it was just around five p.m. The redhead withdrew her phone from her small brown purse and began writing a short text to Stiles. Her attention was directed mainly to the small screen in her palm, therefore it was quite a surprise when she hit something in front of her. Lydia swiftly looked up from her phone to let her eyes meet with the gentlemans dark irises.

"Well, hello, again," he said with a soothing grin.

...

 _Stolos had been forcefully dragged out of his home, leaving the dead body of his father on the floor. The Romans weren't too kind to the children they gathered in the village, and Stolos found himself in a wooden cage within several minutes. He wasn't alone in the cage. There were two other boys who seemed undoubtedly suffering as Stolos did._

 _Both boys Stolos knew, but they didn't speak to each other anyways. They were in shock. Disbelief and maybe even denial. Not Stolos, though. The hatred against those men just grew inside Stolos and he knew that he will avenge his father one day. He would make them all go through agony and pain._

 _And that crucial decision influenced Stolos' whole life, but at that time, the young boy had no idea what his rage will do one day. So, he sat silently with the other children, watching the nature passing along while they traveled to the big city of Rome where they were supposed to be re-educated. They were to be Roman soldiers._


	3. Chapter 3 - John

Lydia needed a few seconds before she realized what had happened. She blinked quickly and swiftly said: "Oh, gosh, I'm so sorry... I was just texting someone and-"

"That's fine," the man said and raised his hands slightly in a calming way. "Can happen to everybody," he added.

"Thank god," Lydia said with relief, "once I bumped into a lady who screamed at me for several minutes...," she smiled awkwardly at him. For some reason, he intimidated Lydia. She wasn't quite sure why but she definitely had respect from him. That was also the reason for her feeling so shy and not confident at all.

He removed Lydia's tension right in the next sentence he said, though:"You don't have to worry that I'd yell at you. By the way, my name's John," he introduced himself and stretched out his arm for a handshake. Lydia squeezed his hand and simply said: "Lydia."

"What a pretty name," he stated as if it was out of habit and looked up into the distance for a second. He returned his gaze to Lydia with another charming smile.

"I could offer you accompanying you home, if you weren't offended by it," he said suddenly.

"Well..." Lydia paused, hoping that bearded John wasn't hitting on her. But it seemed as if he sensed out her misgivings at once and he added: "Your eyes glow with the infutation of love. And I'm not about to intervene with that. I just don't want you to wander alone through the city when it's dark."

Lydia had to giggle because of his way of word choosing which was decorated by his irish accent. The redhead wasn't sure what to think about him but he sure didn't seem as a potentional endangerment for her.

She shrugged and agreed: "Alright, then."

They walked alongside the buildings in silence. Somehow the lack of talking didn't bother Lydia at all. It appeared almost comfortable. Maybe it was his rather nice smelling cologne or his attitude overall. She couldn't tell.

"So, how is he?" he asked, sounding genuinely interested.

"Who?" Lydia asked, uncertain about whom he was talking about.

"The one who makes you so happy," he said, a small smile forming with his lips.

"Oh... Yeah, Stiles is gorgeous," Lydia grinned and glanced up to see John's reaction which confused her because his face seemed to be the combination of sadness and happiness.

John noticed her stare and changed his expression quickly, but Lydia was already wondering why he made such a face.

"What's wrong?" Lydia asked. "You seem sad."

"Nothing, nothing. It just reminded me of someone I knew and-"

"You lost her?" Lydia asked sadly."

"Not excatly _her_."

"Ahaaa, yeah, right," Lydia realizing that he probably isn't straight but skipped it, "I'm sorry."

John smiled at her as if he was smiling at a small child who doesn't understand.

"And how long are you with Stiles?" he asked, changing the topic.

"About two years now," she said.

"That's quite a long time. Are you planning something more?"

"Umm... Not yet, I suppose. But you know... Everything can happen."

"Indeed," he nodded. Lydia stopped at the green building and said: "Well, that's me. It was nice talking with you. I hope I'll see you in the coffee shop someday."

"I'm certain of it. See you later, Lydia," he said and backed away a few steps, making a gentle turn and disappearing into the dark.

...

 _The boys who were captured were brought to Rome after an exhaustingly long travel. Stolos was tired, hungry and thirsty as well as the other children. Stolos wasn't sure what happened to the girls who were also forcefully taken from the families and actually didn't want to know what terrible things will happen to them._ _He had to focus on himself to survive this and to become capable to avenge his family one day._

 _A tall soldier came to the cage where Stolos sat and opened it. He stood in front of the entrance and looked at the boys._

 _"Listen, now, you are going to go, one by one, in a nice line, behind that man," he said and pointed to another soldier who was around his thirties and seemed undoubtedly self confident," and he will lead you to that building. There, you'll wait for other instructions. You better try not to flee, because the ones who will try will be killed. Clear?"_

 _Stolos nodded as did the two other boys and slowly crept out if the cage. They followed the soldier into the grand building where they were made to stand in a line. Stolos noticed that few of the boys weren't even from the Roman Empire. They seemed differently built and had facial features which were foreign for Stolos._

 _All the children, despite their origins, looked in some way similar, though. Their eyes were filled with uncertainty and fear. And the biggest fear was the one of the unknown._

 _Suddenly, another man in a Roman uniform appeared from the left and walked in front of the line of boys. He seemed to have a higher status than the other soldiers in the room. The man pierced the first boy in the line with his dark eyes and said with a strong loud voice: "Tres."_

 _He went to boy to boy and always shouted out a number. 'In', 'duo' or 'tres'. When the serious-looking man reached Stolos, he paused for a few seconds and scanned Stolos up and down. Finally, he said shortly: "In." And he continued without even glancing at Stolos._

 _What does it mean, though, Stolos thought._

 _..._

Stiles greeted Lydia with an big unexpected hug and then run away like a little boy who just made something silly. Lydia chuckled and took off her coat and shoes. He was already sitting at the couch in the living room, eating popcorn from a huge bowl.

"What are you doing?" Lydia asked and headed to the fridge to find something she could eat. When she opened it, she noticed that there was a prepared meal on a plate already. She opened her mouth but before she could've said something, Stiles informed her: "Yeah, that's for you. It's already cold, though. You came later than I expected."

"Aww, thank you," she said happily because she didn't have to cook anything herself. She put the plate into the microwave and leaned against the kitchen table.

"I guess I was late because I got into a conversation with a customer.," she said, gazing into the kitchen wall. Stiles looked away from his food and rose his eyebrows at Lydia

"Should I be jealous?" he joked and put the bowl with the popcorn next to him on the leather couch.

"Nah, he was just being polite. He even offered to walk with me on my way home. But really nothing else, he even said that I seem in love," she giggled. The microwave made a light noise to inform about the food being done heating, Lydia took it out and looked for a fork in the drawer.

"Lyds," Stiles said in a suddenly serious tone, "you shouldn't just walk with strangers."

"Oh, common. Not everybody is a rapist. And he looked washed and everything, so he really wasn't about to mug me."

"Bad people don't have to look messy to be bad," Stiles said and stood up.

"Jeez, Stiles... Why would he harass me? I'm just a waitress."

"I don't know, Lyds. Sometimes they don't need a reason..."

"God, whom have you met that you are thinking that way?"

"What? Nobody... It's just... Common experience..."

"Of course, there are some bad people but come on... And I can defend myself if you allow yourself to realize that."

"I know that you can... But sometimes you just can't."

"Would you stop please? You are acting as if you were some victim of such crime. Or even the one who did it," Lydia said with a full mouth, shaking her head a little. Stiles stared into the carpet for a while until he monotonously said: "Yeah, you are right. I'm overreacting. I have no idea why I'm so paranoid about this. Sorry."

Lydia looked up from her plate little bit in surprise in his change of voice and simply said: "Might be the news and stuff..."

"Yeah, it has to," he said with the soothing smile he always had for Lydia.


	4. Chapter 4 - Italy

Finally, Stiles and Lydia were about to fly away on their little trip to Italy. It was quite exhausting for both of them, mainly because Lydia had to repack their suitcases in order to fit into the prescribed weight that the airline had for their planes, and their flight was early in the morning. Stiles made them several sandwiches the day before for breakfast and for later at the airport which was very useful when the time came.

Their flight took around long nine hours which were filled with talking, reading, movie watching and of course, sleeping. Lydia brought a special book with her by Barbusse with the childish stubborness that she can also read such a book as John. After several chapters, she understood why the bearded man said what he said. It wasn't a relaxing book, indeed.

When they finally arrived to the airport, found their luggage and bought a Starbucks coffee, they exited the huge building into the chilly weather outside. The couple didn't have a precise plan on how to get to their hotel, so they kept standing at the sidewalk for a while, looking around at the unknown surroundings.

Stiles noticed a taxi at the corner and nodded to it. "So, let's take that," he suggested but Lydia didn't answer. She was staring in the opposite direction, not listening to whatever Stiles had said. She suddenly turned her head to her impatient boyfriend and asked with a chuckle: "What?"

"I was just asking if-"

Lydia understood at once what he meant and cut him off: "Don't you wanna rent a car? I could drive if your bottom is too lazy."

"What? I'm not lazy, I don't know what you're talking about."

"So, let's rent a car, huh?"

And so they rented a Škoda Octavia, silver color. Lydia quickly hopped into the drivers seat whilst Stiles put their suitcases into the trunk. He sat down next to his girlfriend who was already impatiently drumming her fingers on the leathered wheel. Stiles withdrew a small map from his jacket pocket and laid it open in front of him. Lydia stared at him in disbelief while he was studying the map through.

"You are kidding, right?" Lydia chuckled at Stiles who raised his gaze from the cartography lying on his knees.

"Did I say something funny?" Stiles said with feigned bewilderment.

"We are living in the information age, you know that right?" she asked and reached for the map to confiscate it but was tenderly struck by his fingers.

"Don't you touch my map, missy. I know what I'm doing. I'll just look at the map for a bit and then I'll know the way for sure. I had lived here anyways. Or did you let this tasty detail of my past slip your mind already?"

"Well, no. But-"

"So gimme a sec, sweetie," he said with a smirk and returned to his careful map-reading. In several minutes, he swiftly packed his map into his pocket, again, and began instructing the slightly impatient driver.

Lydia was quite surprised by Stiles' good memory because he seemed to remember a lot of places, streets, shops and even the round abouts, even though he had been living elsewhere for such a long time.

After a half an hour full of detailed directions, they arrived to the Hotel Pfösl. Lydia pulled up in front of the building, letting Stiles to get out of the car and fetch their luggage from the trunk. Whilst he carried the baggage into the lobby, Lydia found a nice spot to park in.

When Lydia finally came to the lobby, Stiles had already prepared all their documents needed for the check in. The process of checking-in was rather smooth and fast and the couple landed in their room with the number 1936 which made Stiles for some reason snort in amusement. Lydia arched her eyebrow at his but he simply ignored her and entered their room.

Being the time for dinner, they decided to visit the village where the hotel was located in and find a nice-looking restaurant. After a few minutes of walking, white cold snowflakes began to fall down at their heads, so they run into the first pub they had encountered.

As they sat down, a grumpy waitress approached them and asked for their order which was way too fast for the couple and Lydia just pointed to the table across the room and confidently said: "We'll have what they're having."

The woman with the roman-shaped nose rose her eyebrow and looked behind her shoulder to see whom Lydia meant. She shrugged, visibly exchanging the position of her chewing gum in her mouth, and left. Stiles watched her go and then returned his focus on his redhead in front of him.

"She was nice," he said with a smile which made Lydia giggle a bit.

"The nicest of them all," Lydia agreed and glanced over the bar where the waitress stood at the beer pipes, watching back at their table. Lydia abruptly looked away and said with a whisper: "I think she's checking you out. I guess she sensed out your italian origins."

An entertained smile grew on Stiles' face as he continued to play this game. "Then you ought to be extra careful that she doesn't lure me away."

"No way she's doing that!" Lydia said and let her fist hit the table in an appropriate volume.

The evening passed quickly and their food was eaten with admirable speed. The couple ended up drinking their alcoholic beverages. Lydia was swallowing down her beer whilst Stiles studied his fourth glass of wine with his hazels.

"She really stares a lot," Lydia commented the impolite behavior of the grumpy waitress.

"Some people tend to stare," Stiles said, not giving the woman much of a thought.

"Is it possible that she knows you?" Lydia asked, creating a small fictional image of small Stiles with missy grumpy together in her mind. Stiles turned his head around to look at the personnel behind the bar and then shook his head: "Nah... Would have remembered such a glamorous person."

Lydia paused for a while, recounting the amount of wine Stiles had had and blurted out a question:"Are you still in contact with somebody from here?"

"Hm, not anymore," Stiles said, appearing a little sad even.

"But you were...?"

"Um, yeah. Of course."

"What happened?"

"We went different paths I'd say. More like he chose to leave but I guess he didn't have a choice. I don't even know anymore."

"Why did he leave?"

"Uh, my life situation changed and suddenly it wasn't quite suited for... um, his way of life? Not sure how to explain it. So he left."

"Were you close?"

"Very."

"What a dick."

"Come again?" Stiles' eyes widened in surprise, not expecting this reaction.

"You just don't _leave_ when it gets tough. That's so coward-ish. Like what the hell? Whoever it was, he left you when you went through a change or whatever. He was supposed to stay and support you. Gosh. I hate these selfish kind of people."

"Hm," he hummed and looked down at his glass. Lydia decided not to dig into his friendship which had fallen apart and changed the topic to more joyful things which created the usual smile on Stiles' face.

After they finished their drinks, the couple headed to their hotel through the dark of night. Lydia clung to Stiles' forearm and giggled at his monologue he was having about how he loathes today's technology.

At once, Stiles grunted with pain as something hit the back of his head and he fell on Lydia who tried to support his weight with all her strength whilst she looked around for the attacker. Behind them was a man with a baseball bat and a woman with a revolver in her hand, directed at Stiles. Lydia tried to stand up but was stopped by the woman: "You stay down, redhead. Let go of him."

Lydia ignored the command she was given and squeezed Stiles even tighter. Stiles' vision came back to him and he started to move as well but he only got struck, again, which was the last thing he was conscious of.

"What the fuck?!" Lydia yelled at them, scanning the way for any potential help but there was not one living soul. The man began grabbing Stiles by his torso which made Lydia jump at her boyfriend, protecting him with her whole body.

"Stop!" Lydia cried.

"Get of off him, or I will shoot you," the woman threatened, cocking the barrel at Lydia.

"God, kill me but don't take him!" Lydia begged, her eyes filling up with tears.

"We're not interested in you," the man said and pulled Stiles' limp body from under Lydia. The redhead rose to her feet and marched to the man who swinged his bat, hitting Lydia and knocking her out.

Everything went black and Lydia felt how she fell on the cold solid ground.

When she regained consciousness again, she was alone. No Stiles. No attackers.


	5. Chapter 5 - Being a soldier

I'm sorry that it takes so long to post a chapter but I'm very busy. I'm graduating this year and trying to het onto some college... so I suppose that until June, I won't be postin much chapters because when I write them in hurry, I'm not satisfied with them.

I hope you'll enjoy this sort of a flashback and thanks for reading!

 _After the selection of the potential soldiers, the boys were brought to the barracks and they were told to stay there until some of the authorities came. They were guarded by a young soldier, probably someone of a similar history like the kidnapped children._

 _The others went to find their bunks and either sat on them or stood by them as if they were protecting the only thing which was now partly theirs. Stolos wasn't as fast as the rest and before he noticed what was happening, all the good places were taken. Only one bed at the front door was free and that bed became Stolos'._

 _He sat down on the uncomfortable surface and stared into the floor, going over his latest memories and letting the rage slowly build up inside of him. He was disturbed by the young guard who was standing just a few feet from Stolos. The young boy rose his head to see with whom the guard was talking. He couldn't see the other person who was standing behind the door frame but it wasn't a secret for too long because the young guard called him over and ordered him to go behind a corner on the left. Stolos' felt slightly confused but obeyed, not wanting any trouble at the first day._

 _The young boy slowly went to the spot he was told to go, looking around him for any potential threats. When he finally got to the corner, he saw a tall soldier standing with his back to Stolos who was muttering something to himself in a whisper._

 _Stolos wasn't sure how to draw attention to himself without creating whatever offending gesture to the soldier. He went with a simple 'clearing the throat' technique. The soldier visibly froze at the spot and slowly turned around to see who was behind him. Stolos quickly turned his gaze elsewhere and said quietly: "I was told to come here..."_

 _He felt a finger touching his chin which made him look up at the soldier who was sitting on his haunches now, slightly smiling at Stolos._

 _At once, Stolos recognized that face he hadn't seen for so long. It seemed tired and had sharper features than before but it was him. It was his brother. Stolos' eyes filled with tears of joy and jumped at his brother, fiercely hugging him._

 _Michendros squeezed his little brother and then let go. He seriously looked into Stolos' eyes and said: "Listen, whatever will happen, you need to stay strong. Alright? I'm getting seventeen this month, that means that they'll send me to some other place. Either to fight or do the dirty job of stealing children from their parents. I'm going do this with the thought that you are here, save and getting stronger each day. Do you understand me? And when you're ready, we'll flee this rotted hole and never come back. Please. Stay strong, Stolos."_

 _Stolos nodded and gave Michendros a reassuring smile. He will do his best to not disappoint his brother._

 _Since that very moment, Stolos did everything in his power to fullfill the, for Stolos, sacred promise he had given to his older brother who had left for a long journey aroud the Roman Empire._

 _The hard work and unbelievable patience made Stolos one of the fastest, strongest and wittiest soldiers among his peers and slowly he surpassed even the older boys. With his focus only on his one and only goal, Stolos failed to find any friends and created only enemies or frightened boys who wouldn't dare to talk to him. With the lack of compassion, trust and platonic love, he began to starve for his brotherly bond with Michendros whose trip became a six year absence and Stolos feared the worst._

 _He used to ask about his brother but was always sent back with a: "If we had the news of him being dead, we'll inform you."_

 _This kind of attitude made Stolos feel bigger fury than he experienced during his childhood and started again planning his revenge on the Roman Empire which was almost forgotten due to his hard work and sharpening his mind._

 _Stolos blamed the Empire for losing his father and distancing him from his only living relative for years. He finally admitted to himself that he feels lonely and abandoned and with the following denial which was supposed to help him overcome the troubling times, he began to be anxious and even depressed._

 _Because of this state of mind, his performance was slowly getting poor and Stolos stopped concentrating on the given tasks as he used to._

 _..._

 _One afternoon, the sixteen-year-olds were on the same field as the twelve-year-olds, training like every other day. Stolos didn't pay much attention to the other boys because he didn't know any of them and was occupied by his thoughts._

 _The older soldier who were training the sixteen-year-olds has once taken Stolos aside, explaining him that if he continues to lose every fight and won't improve, the elderly will make Stolos a gladiator which meant he that his life would be ended soon. Because of this pep talk, Stolos realized that he had been acting foolish and that with this attitude, he won't get the chance to revenge himself in any way._

 _So, he began focusing his anger and fury into the trainings which made him, again, the most fearful young soldier among the boys. Stolos was aggressive but his attacks were also very clean, quick and they were effective._

 _His movements were automatic, not caring about the opponent whatsoever. The boys who were unfortunate to fight against Stolos ended up with bruised bodies and open wounds which bled a lot. Stolos felt apathetic to the harm he did to them and also to the praising of the older soldier who did nothing to protect or defend the boys who were about to get scarred by Stolos for life, physically and mentally._

 _Suddenly, the soldier who was looking after the sixteen-year-olds walked over to the other one, visibly shorter and younger soldier who stood by the twelve-year-olds. They talked for a minute and then the one returned._

 _"Hey!" he yelled at the boys, making them stop doing whatever they had been up to._

 _"You're going to fight with the younger soldiers. Take it as a competition, if they defeat you, you'll be cleaning up their bunks for a month. If you defeat them, which is obviously going to happen, they'll be your maids. Understood? Line up! Let's get ready."_

 _Stolos peers cheered up a bit because they knew that they'll win. They had four years more practice than the younger soldiers. Only Stolos stood at his spot, unimpressed by the choice of the older tutors._

 _The younger boys lined up in front of the older ones with uncertainty and doubt drawing their features as they slowly approached their opponents. Stolos attention was directed to his peers who began violently fight the younger boys when the tutor whistled on his fingers. The twelve-year-olds got massively beaten up and were obviously losing. Only now had Stolos looked over at the shorter boy standing in front of him and was unsure of what to do. Stolos knew that he could take the boy out within seconds, just a few right punches and hits._

 _The younger boy began to breath loudly, trying to stare into Stolos' eyes fearlessly._

 _"So, are you going to attack me or not?" Stolos said, finally hearing his own hoarse voice after about two weeks of silence._


	6. Chapter 6 - What are you doing here?

Lydia's vision was still a little blurred but she was certain that she was utterly alone on the cold ground where she had failed to save her dear Stiles. The realization of the fact that the two atrangers had taken her boyfriend for no reason whatsoever and might hurt him or even-... She shook this thought off and slowly got up to her feet, grabbing for her purse which wasn't hanging on her shoulder anymore. Lydia looked at the ground first, searching the surface with her eyes. Suddenly, though, a familiar voice called her name in a low tone.

"Lydia."

The girl's head shot up to see who disturbed the silence of the nothingness she had believed that surrounded her. Her gaze ended up on a tall man in a long dark coat. Lydia squinted her eyes to see the man's features better, not sure if what she is perceiving was real.

Finally, she said in a breath: "John?"

The man smiled under the beard and nodded, his smile perished quickly, though, and was replaced by obvious concern. He approached Lydia, carefully as if she were a hurt lamb, and looked her in the eyes.

"Are you alright, dear?" he asked, scanning her face with a soft look. Lydia's eyebrows furrowed at this question, her confusion breaking through.

"What the hell are you doing here? And no, I'm not alright! Could you please just... go? I don't have time for you... I have to find somebody..." she quickly said, her words lacking any articulation to not lose any precious time with this stranger who had found a way into her life, again, somehow.

"Lydia, please do calm down, I actually wanted to help you."

"Help me with what?" Lydia said suspiciously as John couldn't possibly known what had happened there at the very place they have been standing because they had been with Stiles alone.

"Um," John hummed and looked around as if he were looking for the explanation in the skies.

"Did you have something in common with it?!" Lydia bursted out, not being capable to stand out his 'mysteriousness' at that moment.

"No!" John said and raised his hands in defense.

"So, how do you know about it, huh?" Lydia asked, folding her arms on her chest.

"It's complicated..."

...

 _Stolos wasn't sure what made him do it, or to be more precise, what made him not to do it. Now, he was lying at the ground, oficially defeated by the younger boy who didn't believe his own eyes. Stolos didn't defend himself and when he did, it was just for 'the show'. Why did he do that? He was the only one who lost against his opponent and therefore, he was the only one who had to clean the bunk of this other child._

 _Stolos' peers stood silently and watched Stolos who was still on the ground, staring into the blue sky. They didn't dare to say anything because they knew what was Stolos capable of and were afraid to mock him for the fight he had just lost._

 _The boy who has defeted Stolos couldn't believe his own eyes and looked over to Stolos who was slowly getting up to his feet. The other younger boys watched their peer in astonishment and envy for what he had accomplished._

 _Stolos brushed the dirt off his clothes and returned to his previous spot, waiting for the older soldiers to give them instructions. He was, of course, laughed at the tutors and was told to make 'Dentorons' bed every morning after he wakes up._

 _The next morning, Dentorons was already waiting by his bed for Stolos. He knew that he didn't have to wait there but he wanted to talk with the peculiar opponent who had lost against a younger soldier._

 _Eventually, Stolos walked into the room where Dentorons had his bunk. Dentorons was a little discouraged by Stolos' blank expression and hints of lethargy. Stolos gave a short glimpse to the younger boy and started reordering the blanket without a word._

 _"You-you are Stolos, right?" Dentorons got out of himself._

 _"Yes," Stolos answered shortly._

 _"My name's Dentorons, Den for short."_

 _"Uh-huh."_

 _"May I ask you something?"_

 _"What."_

 _"Um, why did you want me to win?" Dentorons asked in a low tone for nobody else to hear it. Stolos straightened his back and looked at Den, raising his eyebrows._

 _"You let me win, obviously..."_

 _"Maybe you are better than you think," Stolos said monotonously._

 _"Bullshit," Den raised his voice but regretted it right away. Stolos, though, just smiled at him._

 _"'Guess I didn't need to prove myself something with messing up a kid." Stolos shrugged and leaned against the wall next to the bed._

 _"I'm not a kid," Dentorons defended himself._

 _"Sure you are. We all are. Even the dicks who 'train' us."_

 _"...I've heard that you are dangerous... for a kid."_

 _"I'm only dangerous to those who deserve it."_

 _"But you've hurt all the others..."_

 _"They live, don't they?"_

 _"Well, yeah, but-"_

 _"Look, Den... I don't really care-"_

 _"No, no. That's alright... let's not get into that. Let's get breakfast, okay?"_

 _"Sure."_

 _..._

"What the fuck is complicated? You mean you being here? Or the fact that my boyfriend was fucking kidnapped?!" Lydia almost screamed now.

"Look, let's just focus on finding Stiles, alright?" John tried.

"And why are you so interested in Stiles?!" Lydia threw her hands into the air.

"We... well, we've been... friends at some point. Good ones."

"What?"

"Yeah..."

"He never mentioned a friend named 'John'."

"It was quite a long time ago, I must admit. I suppose... he didn't think of me as somebody... important," John said slowly, as if he was just coming to this realization.

"You know what? I don't care right now. I'm going to the police," Lydia said, not paying attention to John anymore and fiercely picked up her handbag from the ground and began walking back to the village.

"Lydia, here's no police station. It would be better if you returned to the hotel and called somebody..."

Lydia stopped, still facing John with her back. Her eyes scanned the village around her and she admitted to herself that she won't find much help there. Abruptly, she turned around and went back to John who was still standing at the same place she left him and looked up into his dark eyes.

"And what are you going to do, huh?" she asked him with spite.

"I'll try look for him," he said simply.

"Then, I'll go with you."

"I don't think that's such a good idea..."

"Why? Because I'm a girl?" she said, folding her arms on her chest.

"No, not at all. It's just... if you go call the police, somebody has to be there to describe him and stuff like that... I can't do that... I don't have any photos of him, I haven't seen him for so long... I didn't even see the kidnappers."

Lydia realized that he has a point and that realistically, she had almost no chance of finding him on her own and she was the one who saw the two people who took Stiles. Lydia then slowly nodded, accepting the facts and finally calming down.

"Okay. Okay. Gimme your phone number," Lydia said, fishing her phone from the handbag and unlocking it.

"May I?" John asked and pointed to the phone. Lydia squinted her eyes in suspicion for a second but then placed the smartphone on his stretched out palm. John quickly typed his number into the device and handed it back to the redhead.

"I'll text you if I find him... Okay?" he said with a supportive tone. Lydia only nodded and watched him turn on his heels and leave.


	7. Chapter 7 - The Witch

_Michendros finally arrived to Rome after such a long time. He was excited to see his little brother and tell him about the good news he's got. The young soldier was concerned if Stolos was doing alright because he knew that since Stolos was a small boy, he was able to be very stubborn, bad-mooded and even rude. And these attributes weren't welcomed by the roman soldiers and leaders._

 _He hurried to the nearest barracks and put on one of his serious faces. He had noticed a few younger boys talking at the right side, so he approached them. The boys immediately fell silent and straightened their backs at the sight of a visibly older soldier._

 _"Where is the soldier called Stolos?" he asked them with a harsh voice. The boys looked at each other, two of them shrugging at their third friend. The third one looked up at Michendros and finally said: "Well, I am not certain where exactly he is but I might have an idea where he could be."_

 _"Will you take me there?" Michendros asked at once._

 _"Of course, follow me," the boy said and began walking to the nearest exit door. Michendros went closely behind him so he wouldn't lose him. The young boy lead him outside the building and began walking towards the so-called 'practice field'._

 _"By the way, you can call me Den," the boy suddenly said without looking back at the stranger._

 _"Den?" Michendros repeated, "What an unusual name."_

 _"It's more of a nickname, but all of my friends call me like that... That doesn't mean I am considering you as a friend... I didn't mean-"_

 _"I don't really care how I'll call you."_

 _"Oh," Den said quietly and continued walking towards the path which lead to the forest. Michendros felt a little bad for being mean to the kid but decided to leave it be. He and Stolos would leave this rotten place soon anyways. They went through the forest for a few minutes before Den stopped at once. He turned around to look at the older soldier but quickly turned away when their eyes met._

 _"He's sitting there, on the log," Den said quietly and pointed to his left. Michendros scanned the trees for anyone's presence but didn't see a soul._

 _"There's nobody," he stated which made Den visibly confused as he looked to his left again and saw nobody as well._

 _"He had to notice us..."_

 _Suddenly, Den's eyes drifted away from Michendros and focused on something behind him, Michendros turned around to see what caught Dens' eyes. And there he was. Taller than before for sure, his posture changed as well. The training he had gone under made his features sharper and his muscles fuller. But that didn't matter for Michendros, the only important thing was that his brother is alive and standing in front of him._

 _Stolos' gaze softened at the sight of Michendros and approached him._

 _"I thought that you were-"_

 _"No, Stolos, I promised, and I am here."_

 _Den watched the two men hug each other and he wondered who the stranger might be. When Stolos withdrew from the hug, he looked at his younger friend and recognized his confusion. He offered Den a small smile to make him feel more at ease._

 _"Thank you for bringing him, Den," Stolos said in an unknown tone for Dentorons. It sounded almost as if Stolos was happy. The younger boy nodded, smiling in return._

 _"I'm gonna give you some privacy then," Den said and began walking away. He felt Stolos' hand squeezing his shoulder when he went pass him which made him feel happy as well. All these years he has been friends with this grumpy and annoyed soldier, he hasn't seen him ever actually happy. Every time Den made him laugh about some silliness, his smile faded away quickly. Dentorons knew about Stolos' hatred towards the Roman Empire and he was aware that he had suffered just because of the fact that he is supposed to serve for it as a soldier._

 _Michendros waited a minute for Den to disappear behind the trees before returning his gaze to his brother._

 _"Stolos, there is so much needed to be told."_

 _"So what about sitting down?"_

 _"Sure."_

 _Stolos lead him to the place Dentorons was pointing at before. They sat down on two logs lying on the opposite sides of the small fire place. Michendros put down his sword with which he had ended many lives already. Stolos noticed that his brother's features became more serious and his eyes filled with the burden he had to carry._

 _They were both silent for a few seconds, quietly accepting the fact that they indeed survived all the suffering, mental and physical, and now, they are both here._

 _"So, what now?" Stolos interrupted the silence and looked at Michendros._

 _"I might have a way out of here. For good."_

 _"What do you mean?"_

 _"When I was away... I met a young woman, I helped her-"_

 _"Helped her?"_

 _"The others wanted to cut of her head immediately, they said that she's dangerous. I basically told them that they are cowards, wanting to kill a girl just because of some gossip they've heard... So, we only captured her. One night I brought her food and water because I noticed that nobody has done so yet. I was almost about to leave when she grabbed my hand and spoke to me."_

 _"What did she say?"_

 _"She thanked me for sparing her life. She said that she knows my wish to return to my brother who desires revenge...," Michendros looked up at Stolos whose lips were tightly shut as he watched the ground._

 _"She said that it was written in the stars and shown in her dreams that she'll sacrifice herself for the two brothers."_

 _"Sacrifice?" Stolos raised his eyebrows in question._

 _"The gossip is true, I suppose. She is a sorceress. But I think she wants to help us."_

 _"But what if she... what if she does something bad to us? Something wicked?"_

 _"I don't know, Stolos. But either we stay, or we try to run by ourselves-"_

 _"We would be caught in a few days-"_

 _"Yes. I know. Or she'll help us."_

 _Stolos nodded, taking in the information. He wasn't certain why a stranger like this woman who has been captured by his brother would help them, but they didn't have much of a chance without any help._

 _"How, though?" Stolos asked._

 _"You have to meet her. We should do it when the moon is at its highest."_

 _"Where is she?"_

 _"She is imprisoned in the cells in the lower part of the prison. I'll just take you there for some reason I'll make up."_

 _"Alright."_

 _And as they did say, they did. At midnight, Michendros collected Stolos from his bunks and lead him down to the cells which were guardes by other soldiers. Michendros, as an older and more experienced soldier was let through easily, even with Stolos by his side._

 _Michendros took his brother to the furthest cell labeled with the number eleven. He slowly approached the cell and whispered: "Elyana."_

 _"Michendros," a slightly excited female voice echoed from the cell. Michendros immediately opened the door and entered the cell, Stolos following him with doubts. Stolos looked at Elyana with surprise. She was very young, maybe sixteen years old. Her hair was cut, probably unwillingly, because there were visible wounds on some parts of her head where the blade had to drive through her flesh as well. Her big green eyes watched Michendros with hope and compassion._

 _Michendros took her hands in his and repaid her the gaze. He suddenly gestured to Stolos who was awkwardly standing behind them, waiting._

 _"This is him, that's Stolos. Stolos, this is Elyana," he introduced them. Elyana looked at Stolos with a slight hint of suspicion and awareness and then turned back to the older brother._

 _"You have to listen, I am supposed to be taken somewhere to be judged. I am not sure how much time I have. What I am about to do might bring happiness to you but also suffering. But you will be free and the foretold prophecy will come to pass. Try not to lose yourselves," she said with concern and glanced at Stolos, "I know that it will be hard but I believe that one day, you will be better. You will choose the right way. Now, give me your hands."_

 _Both Michendros and Stolos stretched out their hands with their palms upward. Elyana took their hands into hers and placed her thumbs into the middle of the palm. Within seconds, the brothers felt a light pinch in the skin which began to bleed. The young witch brought her thumbs to her lips and licked the blood off of them. She smirked at them and slowly said: "This is what I need from you. I shall begin the sacrifice, I hope I will make it in time. Now, off you go."_

 _The two young men exited the cell, Michendros giving his sorceress a long gaze before they walked away. Neither of them said a word through the whole way out of the prison which smelled mostly of piss and rotten food. Stolos was deep in his thoughts, watching only the ground beneath him. Was she trustworthy? What is she going to do to them? Stolos faintly remembered how his mother told him stories about witchcraft and about the ones who engaged in it. It seemed rather as an evil force in this world. But then again, it might be the only way how to flee from this wretched place and maybe get a small revenge when they're at it._

 _When they were outside, Michendros nodded towards a wall in front of them and began walking towards it. Stolos followed him in silence. The brothers stopped and looked around for any potential listeners._

 _"Michendros," Stolos began, "are you certain that she'll provide what she promised?"_

 _"Well, I am not excatly certain what she actually promised, to be honest. But I believe whatever it is, she is ready to die for it."_

 _..._

She could already see the hotel. Just a few meters now. Her whole body ached from the running. It was quite a long distance from the village, she realized.

Lydia barged into the reception, making the receptionist jump up a little. The older man behind the counter watched her cautiously with his dark green eyes.

"I need to report a kidnapping! What's the police's number?" she said in one exhale.

"Kidnapping, miss?" the man said with a strong accent. "Miss, try to calm down and tell me what happened."

"Calm down? My boyfriend was kidnapped! About 5' 10'' feet tall, it's like 180 meters. Dark brown hair, eyes as well. Black jeans, dark green jacket. Could you just call the police?"

"Of course."

The receptionist turned around and began dialing the police. He spoke italian, but Lydia understood a little. At least the part with the 'Americans'. The receptionist turned back to Lydia and raised a finger to make her wait a bit.

Suddenly, he handed her the phone which she hastily grabbed into her palms.

"Hello?" Lydia said.

"Good evening, here's the italian police. What can we do for you?"


	8. Chapter 8 - The Gomernot Clan

Slowly opening his eyes after finally waking up was harder than he imagined. Stiles' head hurt like hell and his vision was blurred. He began remembering what had actually happened back there in the village.

"Shit," he sweared quietly for himself. He found himself sitting down on a very uncomfortable chair, his hands and ankles tightly tied up. He tried to loosen up the rope but it only hurt more. He realized that the rope actually got tighter whenever he tried to get out of it. And that moment he knew that it is possibly the end of him.

The ropes were enchanted, therefore the kidnapper had to be someone who knew who Stiles is. Or who he was before...

Suddenly, Stiles heard footsteps closing in on him. The place he was in was dark and almost nothing could have been seen. Somebody turned on the lightbulb which was directly above Stiles. He squinted at the sudden change and looked up at the person in front of him. It was a woman. Brown long hair, brown eyes, curvy, black clothes. Quite mundane looking for Stiles and he was certain that he had never met her before.

She sent him a resentful glare before she spoke.

"I started to lose hope actually. I thought that you can't be found," she scoffed, "and then you appear at my sister's workplace. Isn't that amazing?"

Stiles looked around as if he searched for something more entertaining than her which enraged the woman. She grabbed Stiles' jaw into her hand and turned his head to face her.

"Of course," she smiled at him with a slight disgust, "you are the arrogant one out of you two, aren't you? You think you are so great, don't you? Well, not anymore. Otherwise, you'd be able to free yourself from the ropes."

Stiles stared silently into her dark eyes, having no expression whatsoever.

"So, let me introduce myself first. You should know who was your doom after all."

"I don't really care," Stiles said monotonously.

"Shut up!" she yelled out and quickly breathed in to calm herself. "You don't have to feign anything. Your cover wasn't good enough. And now, the last surviving from the Gomernot Clan will finally end you."

Stiles rose his eyebrow at the mention of the Gomernot Clan. He hadn't heard this name for years. The dark-haired woman walked over to a shelf which was filled with glass containers and a set of knives which seemed quite dirty. She picked up one knife and two containers and brought them to Stiles.

"You see these? These will be your cause od death. Isn't that ironic? An almost dull knife and two glass containers will kill you," she laughed for herself and positioned the containers underneath Stiles' wrists. Her dark brown eyes drifted to his wrists, putting the blade onto Stiles' skin. The next few seconds made Stiles shut his teeth tightly together and look up at the ceiling. The dull knife slowly made its way through the skin, letting the blood flow into the containers. The woman smiled at Stiles and took a few steps away from him.

"This is the best moment of my life," she said, "you are so helpless, it su-"

She couldn't finish her sentence because the earth beneath them began to shake and the walls cracked, some of them falling down.

"You see, that's what happens when you take my blood," Stiles said, having trouble keeping his voice still. The blood was leaving his body fast and it did make its impact on him.

The woman ignored him and screamed at somebody: "Luis, why isn't the protection working?!"

"I don't kn-" a voice sounded behind the door, not finishing the sentence.

"You'll regret this!" her dark eyes pierced Stiles through who just simply said: "I am not doing this, though."

Suddenly, the lights went dark. Stiles tried to blink through the blurriness of his vision. He could recognize two figures standing in front of him. Within seconds, the person on the right side fell down with a loud thud and the other one turned to Stiles.

"I actually thought that I won't survive this time," Stiles said slowly and tried to grin at his rescuer.

"It would have been if she didn't want your blood."

...

 _"Stolos," someone whispered at the sleeping boy. "Stoloos," he said more intensely. Stolos opened his eyes and quickly looked at the person waking him up._

 _"What do you need, Den?"_

 _"Hey, Stolos," Dentorons greeted him with a grin. "I was just thinking that we could hang out a little."_

 _"It's quite early for that, don't you think?"_

 _"Well, I thought that might be the only chance before... well, you know."_

 _"Before what?" Stolos asked, feeling alarmed that his secret was found out._

 _"You want to... leave, right?" Den said, whispering the word 'leave'._

 _"Why would you think that?"_

 _"Come on, you despise this place. Now, your brother has returned. He is your brother, isn't he? So, yeah. Nothing is holding you back now."_

 _"Dentorons, even if I wanted, how could I leave? They would hunt me down for treatchery or something."_

 _"You'd find a way."_

 _"Hm, would you wanna leave as well?"_

 _"I am not sure. I don't have anyone out there. And I have some friends here already."_

 _"Do you really want to fight the battles for this damn Empire?"_

 _"Not everybody is that bad..."_

 _"How could you say that? The citizens, the leaders made this system. They are fine with kidnapping innocent children and killing everyone who doesn't pay enough."_

 _"I know, Stolos, but you can also stay and try to change the things here... I don't think that fleeing nor violence is the answer."_

 _"Hm."_

 _"I hope you'll understand this one day, Stolos. And that you will forgive me for staying."_

 _"That will only get you killed," Stolos said and stood up from his bunk._


	9. Chapter 9-The Prophecy Has Come To Pass

_The morning went by rather fast and Stolos found himself already craving for lunch. He walked to the kitchen with the intention to steal some food but before he could've crept inside the small room, someone grabbed him by the shoulder. Stolos turned around, already making up a few lies for the person who caught him. It wasn't necessary, though._

 _"We need to go. Elyana is with the general right now," Michendros said with an urging tone._

 _"What do you want to do?"_

 _"I don't know but we can't let them kill her," the older brother whispered and began walking towards the big hall. Stolos quickly caught up and asked: "She wanted to die for us anyways, though. Isn't it the same outcome?"_

 _"Stolos! There's a diference. She wants to sacrifice herself for us, it's probably some magical thing with some meaning. If they kill her it will be painful and for her it will be senseless."_

 _"You care about her, don't you?"_

 _"That doesn't matter. Come."_

 _Michendros opened one part of a huge metalic door, trying to be as quiet as possible. The room was filled with the leaders of the army and several soldiers who stood by Elyana who was sitting on her knees in front of the general._

 _Stolos and Michendros went by the wall silently so they wouldn't disrupt them. Stolos noticed that Elyana was whispering something but it seemed more like to herself than to the general. She was working on the spell._

 _"I think we should burn her, gentlemen," one of the leaders with a bald head said._

 _"She obviously has no excuse for her actions and only blabbers in her strange tounge. She had a chance," other one said._

 _"Should we make it public? the general asked._

 _"I don't think so. We wouldn't want to give her the satisfaction of getting more attention," the bald-headed shared his concern and the others nodded in agreement._

 _"With this, we sentence you to die by burning," the general said. The brothers looked at each other, not sure what to do. But before Stolos had the chance to say something, Michendros was already standing in the middle of the room in front of the leaders._

 _"And you boy are doing here what?" one of the leaders asked, raising his dark eyebrow._

 _"You can't execute her!" Michendros said loudly._

 _"Why is that?" the bald one asked._

 _"You just... can't. She is innocent."_

 _"She is guilty of sorcery and I believe it is our decision. Not yours," the general said. Michendros looked around, his gaze stopping first at Stolos, then on her. She was still mumbling something strange to them. He again raised his eyes to the leaders and said: "I know that she is innocent. Just look at her. She is so young."_

 _"Maybe you should think more with your head, son. She's been talking to herself like a lunatic, she is of no use."_

 _"She might be only praying. She has to be scared," Michendros said almost sadly._

 _"Nonsense! Guards, take her outside and begin gathering wood," the general exclaimed and the two soldiers standing by Elyana's sides grabbed her and picked her up from the floor. Michendros didn't see any other option but jumping at them and making them let go of her._

 _"Stop this immediately! If you are so enchanted by her looks, you should be helped. Guards, blind him."_

 _At this command, Stolos shot out from his hiding spot to stand before his older brother. He spread his arms wide, being a human shield for Michendros. But even though he was one of the best among his peers, Stolos wasn't able to fight of two armed men with more years of training than Stolos had. Within seconds, Stolos was lying a few feet away from his brother. He got to his feet quickly but it was too late. His eyes fell on his brother's face which was now covered in blood. The scream of agony sounded through the room like an echo, paralysing Stolos at the spot._

 _When the soldier withdrew the blade from Michendros' left eye, he looked back at the leaders who nodded at him, making the soldier stab Michendros into the right eye as well._

 _Michendros didn't cry out this time. He placed his shaking hand on his face, covering the two terrifying bleeding holes where the eyes used to be._

 _"How could you?!" Stolos yelled and jumped to his brother, gently putting his arm around the shoulders and giving a hateful gaze to the leaders._

 _"You should learn how to be quiet, young man. Otherwise you'll lose something, too."_

 _Stolos felt how his sight was getting blurry. He didn't shed a tear for years now so it was quite a surprise for Stolos when he had to dry his cheeks with his sleeve. He tried to help his brother to stand up and bring him to the physician but Michendros didn't move an inch._

 _"Michendros, come on," Stolos whispered and tried to pull his brother up from his knees. Michendros only shook his head and said quietly: "Help her."_

 _Stolos glanced at Elyana who was still muttering something for herself, not even acknowledging what had just happened to Michendros._

 _"Are you crazy? She doesn't give a damn about us, just stand up," Stolos said, being a little annoyed by his brother's loyalty for this girl. Suddenly, Elyana's muttering became louder. It sounded like an omen for Stolos' ears. He finally managed to pick his brother up and began walking towards the exit._

 _"No, Stolos. Don't make me leave," he mumbled._

 _"We have to, she's going to get us in more trouble than we already are."_

 _Stolos grabbed the handle on the door but it couldn't be opened. He tried again but nothing came out of his effort. "What the hell...," he said for himself. He turned around, still holding Michendros tightly to his body, making sure he was safe._

 _"What's happening?" Michendros asked quietly, slowly realizing that he will be asking this question rather often from this moment._

 _"Elyana seems to be in pain I guess. Nobody is touching her, though," Stolos said, himself wondering why does it look as if the girl was in agony._

 _"Help her," Michendros begged and clasped Stolos' tunic into his fingers. Stolos looked down at his brother. It was the first time he directly looked at Michendros' face which now lacked his usual dark brown irises._

 _"Are you insane?" Stolos asked with a gentle tone, "I need to take care of you, not her."_

 _"I am just blind, Stolos. I'll survive that."_

 _"Just blind-" Stolos scoffed at this ridiculous statement and wanted to say something more but the walls around them started to shake at once._

 _"An earthquake?" Stolos said outloud, looking around the now unstable stones which were pilled up, creating the walls in which they were now trapped. Everyone in the room started to look for the cause of this sudden concerning state of the building and their eyes ended up on Elyana._

 _"It's the witch! Kill her!" the general yelled out towards the guards who didn't hesitate and pierced the young girl with a sword. The moment he withdrew the sword from her guts, she fell to the floor as well as some of the walls began to fall down. Michendros wanted to get onto his feet but Stolos held him tightly, ready to protect him with his own body._

 _"Stolos, let go of off me," Michendros commanded but his younger brother didn't listen. "I must be heavy anyways," he tried again but Stolos' didn't even listen. He stared at the limp body in front of him and decided to walk over to it._

 _"We are trapped here," Stolos stated, "the doors won't open. She did something to it."_

 _He lowered his brother on the floor next to Elyana and began examining the body._

 _"Don't go anywhere," he told to his older brother whose hand found Elyana's wound._

 _"She's dead."_

 _"And we are too. The ceiling will bury us here," Stolos answered, ignoring the other Romans trying resentfully to get out of the room which was falling down at them._

 _"Take my hand," Michendros said and stretched out his fingers in the air, searching for his brother. Stolos laid his eyes on the hand which was now covered in blood and took it into his own._

 _"Funny. We gave her ours for some miracle to happen and the only thing what she gave us in return was her blood. Seems fair, I suppose," Stolos said, still holding Michendros' hand tightly. It didn't take long. The walls crushed down and weren't able to support the ceiling which inevitably fell down too. The building buried all the people inside of the room. Suddenly, it was so quiet. Nobody talked, the birds were silent, not even the wind blew. Silence._

 _..._

 _Dentorons was just a few blocks away and heard the building crushing down. His peers were at first as confused as Den was but then one of the boys pointed somewhere into the air._

 _"Look! There!"_

 _Everyone turned their heads towards the direction where he was poiting to see a big cloud of dust. Dentorons didn't wait for the others and run towards the cloud. When he came closer, he saw a bunch of people already gathering around the ruins and some of them tried to find survivals._

 _Dentorons couldn't get nearer because the adults didn't even acknowledge him standing there. Suddenly, a drop of rain fell on his cheek and then another one and an other. Within seconds, it rained heavily and thunder was heard from the distance. Everyone around including Den wondered about such a sudden change of weather but the strong men trying to drag away the stones continued searching even under these circumstances. Dentorons wasn't sure why but he felt very odd and he could tell that the others standing around him felt also peculiar._

 _Remembering his older friend, Den began asking the people standing next to him: "Who was there? Who died there?"_

 _"I believe that the leaders were there," somebody said._

 _"No! I've heard that a witch was in there! She has cursed us! Just look at the sky!" another voice said._

 _"Nonsense, at least it will rain and we can grow some food."_

 _"Exactly, you are being paranoid."_

 _"I am not paranoid! Look up!"_

 _Dentorons obeyed the man's order and noticed a weirdly shaped dark cloud which was now haning above them. Den gulped at its sight and backed away from the crowd a little._

 _And then it happened. Lighting bolts hitting the ground around the building, scorching some of the citizens standing there. Dentorons watched it with wide eyes open, unable to move. More lighting, just now they struck the ruins. Once, then once again._

 _The crowd quickly disappeared as people run away to hide, that meant that Den had a clear view on the ruins now and how shocked he was when suddenly, next to the fire which the lighting started, two figures arose. Dentorons wanted to make a step closer to see but was stopped by a woman who screamed: "They are the witches accomplices. I am certain! I've seen them with her before! And that is why they survived this."_

 _The cloud of dust cleared out as wind started to blow a little more and the young soldier could now make out the two figures in the distance._

 _"Stolos...," Den whispered._

 _..._

"It kind of reminded me of... well, you know, the walls shaking and everything," Stiles said while his restrains were taken down.

"You are safe now. Nothing else matters. You should go to your girlfriend. She's worried sick."

"You are this John she's been mentioning, aren't you?" Stiles said and stood up.

"Go to her, Stiles. Live your life," he said and started turning away but was stopped by Stiles grabbing him by the hand.

"No, wait..."

"Why?" he turned back and looked him in the eyes which he regretted right away.

"Um," Stiles scratched the back of his neck and finally said, "first of all, I have no idea where I am, secondly..."

"Don't-"

"-I want you to stay," Stiles said squeezing his hand a little and then letting go.

"What would you do with me around? I don't want to even entertain the idea," he scoffed, "how would you explain _her?_ It would ruin everything you built."

"So, the better option is going to her workplace to ask about me discreetly?" Stiles asked and folded his arms on his chest, watching the guilty expression which was quickly washed away by the usual calmness.

"I won't do that again, I promise. I didn't want to scare her..."

"You actually did the exact opposite. Apparently, you are sympathetic."

"Come, I'll show you the way back," he said and started walking away from Stiles.

"Michendros, please," Stiles said almost with a begging tone in his voice.


	10. Chapter 10 - Mundane No More

"Why are you looking at me like that? How should I call you? Anselm? Björn? Merlin? Or the most recent – John?" Stiles asked with a raised eyebrow.

"It's just- I haven't heard this name for such a long time..."

"Yeah, for about six years now."

"Hm," John hummed and looked down at the ground where the last daughter of the Gomernot clan was lying, dead.

"Don't look at her as if it were their fault. It was ours as well," Stiles said, "mostly mine..."

"Let's not get into that now. Lydia has to be out of her mind. We should- You should go to her."

...

 _Michendros blinked a few times. He couldn't believe it. He actually saw something. Quickly, he looked around for his brother who was lying right next to him, still holding Michendros' hand._

 _"Stolos," Michendros said, "Stolos wake up," he said more urgently. He can't be dead, he thought. Just can't. It didn't take long though and Stolos opened his eyes as well. Michendros helped him to sit up and tried to catch his brother's gaze._

 _"Holy shit, your eyes-"_

 _"Yes. I can see," Michendros said with a smile. They both helped each other to stand up and for the first time, they saw the result of the magical earthquake which has apparently buried everyone inside the building but them two. For some reason, there was a fire near to them but that wasn't the important thing for the brothers._

 _Around a dozen people were lying on the ground around them burned to a crisp. Stolos and Michendros exchanged worried looks with each other._

 _"What a sacrifice, huh," Stolos muttered._

 _"I can't find Elyana's body," Michendros said._

 _"She's either under the piled up stones or she magically disappeared. At this point, I would even believe the disappearance one."_

 _"Hm, look, isn't that the friend of yours?" the older brother asked and nodded to a boy standing across the street staring back at them._

 _"Oh, yeah. Maybe, we should go to him...," Stolos suggested and was about to walk out of the ruins but a woman yelling made him stop._

 _"They are the witch's accomplices! I am certain! I've seen them with her before! And that is why they survived this."_

 _The brothers looked at each other, both knowing that they won't have a such luck surviving again. The citizens and the men in power will take care of that. Within minutes, they were sitting in the prison Elyana was closed in before, too. They sat on the cold ground, leaning against the even colder wall, feeling defeated. Stolos broke the silence after a while: "I thought that she's giving us a possibility to escape this hole of an Empire."_

 _"Stolos, don't be like this. She surely tried."_

 _"Did she? She threw a few stones at us and then brought us back to life. About fifty people saw it and now they think we are sorcerers as well."_

 _"Maybe... maybe something will happen. Something else."_

 _"What? Like our bodies being on fire tomorrow?"_

 _"No, well, maybe. I am not certain. But I have this feeling like this is not it."_

 _"I feel the same like before, though."_

 _"Stolos, I've got my eyes back. There is more to it, for sure."_

 _"Hm."_

 _The brothers felt silent, both deep in their thougts. Michendros still believed for a miracle as he had trusted Elyana from the moment he laid eyes on her, Stolos, on the other hand, had a few misgivings about this whole thing, doubting that when he'll face death for the second time, it will be escaped easily like before._

 _Even though they tried not to, the brothers fell asleep on the uncomfortable surface. It might have been the events of the previous day which exhausted them, or maybe just the fact that they had died that day._

 _Stolos didn't remember any of his dreams for about a year now. Maybe it was a selfe-defensive technique because when he arrived as a young boy to the Roman Empire, he suffered from night terrors and insomnia. Now, his sleep was calm and energizing, exactly what he needed for being a good fighter._

 _But that night, he did dream. And this dream was something he remembered forever. It was situated in a graveyard. Of course it has to be such a place, Stolos thought. Suddenly, he noticed the familiar dark brown hair in the distance, standing by a tree without leaves._

 _"Michendros!" he called out, making the person in front of him turn his head back. A soft smile appeared on his face and gestured at Stolos to come closer._

 _"That's nice. My last dream will be with you," Michendros said, looking up the tree._

 _"Wait, no, this is my dream," Stolos said with a slight confusion. Michendros looked at him, shrugging at his little brother._

 _"Does it even matter?" he asked him. "At least we are together."_

 _Stolos glanced around the graveyard, thinking why are they spending their last dream-moments there._

 _"Let's go somewhere else, we'll be in this place in a few hours anyways," Stolos suggested._

 _"No, wait."_

 _Both, Michendros and Stolos turned around to see the young sorceress in a lighy blue dress, smiling at them._

 _"I am glad that my efforts paid off," she said and approached the two brothers._

 _"No offense, but we might be alive right now, but we are about to be burned in the morning. So, yeah. But you tried," Stolos said. Michendros gave a strict look to his brother who ignored him. Elyana looked at Stolos as if she was looking at a small naive child which annoyed Stolos even though he knew it was only a dream._

 _"I did everything right, and you being alive proofs it. It will just take a little time to take effect."_

 _"So, before the burning or after it?" Stolos raised his eyebrow and folded his arms on his chest._

 _"Stolos! Let her talk," Michendros jumped in._

 _"You both are extraordinary creatures. You are the first and the last of your kind. There is no name to call you. There are no legends nor myths but the ones which will arise in the future. For some reason, the religion and gods I dedicated my young life to, chose you two for this cause. I don't know if you are meant to do something great or nothing at all. You will find out in time. I've given you all my knowledge and all the knowledge about the mysteries and magic in this world. In time, it will come to you and you'll feel as if it was with you all your life. I don't know where your power starts and when it ends, that you will find out on your own."_

 _"What power?" Michendros asked but Elyana shrugged: "I wasn't told much, I've been mostly shown. But it should be greater than any sorcerer ever had."_

 _"So, we are witches now?" Stolos asked with a scoff._

 _"You are certainly not witches. The only thing I know for sure that you are mundane no more."_

 _Michendros exchagned his confused looks with his brother and asked: "How do we learn to control this... new thing?"_

 _Elyana shrugged. "I am just a child in the end, you are the ones who should know more than any person alive."_

 _"I feel kind of clueless, though," Stolos said and looked around a graveyard, still wondering why he has a dream in such a cryptic place._

 _"It's almost morning. You should get ready," Elyana said and disappeared into the thin air. Michendros has managed to give a last look at his brother before the dream ended, making Stolos and Michendros wake up inside their cell again. They sat up and stared at each other for a while untik Michendros carefully asked: "Did that just happen?"_

 _Stolos slowly nodded, turning his gaze to the opposite wall. "How should we get ready? And for what exactly?" Stolos asked but received only a shake of his brother's head._

 _..._

 _He didn't understand what had Stolos done to bring both of them into trouble. Of course, his older friends had some secrets he didn't want to share but Dentorons always thought that the lack of sharing was mostly caused by Stolos' fear of reopening old wounds._

 _It was a mystery for Den how Stolos and his brother had survived the fall of the building and the peculiar lighting bolts. But because it was known that Dentorons had some sort of a friendship with Stolos, the man in lead automatically presumed that Dentorons can explain these events._

 _He was locked up in a dark dungeon for hours now. Once a while, someone came in, splashed him with cold water and the interrogation began. Questions like how long have the brothers been in contact with the witch, why did they want to kill the leaders and what was their plan were answered with a simple: "I don't know."_

 _Unfortunately, the more times he said this, the more got the men interrogating him frustrated and angry with the boy. And that lead to plan B which meant: 'Made him talk using any means necessary'._

 _For hours, Dentorons was beaten, cut, threatened and kicked. But the only result was a crying young child saying "I don't know". That wasn't welcomed, though._

 _..._

 _The brothers were taken to the bonfire before noon. It was already crowded and everyone was whispering gossips about the two. They were tied up to a tall wooden log whichwas stuck in the ground while a important-looking man climbed up on a podium in front of them, starting his speech._

 _"Thank you all for coming! It is needed that you see how we deal with traitors and the ones who take actions against the Empire. These two commited crimes against our law and worked with a witch, planning to bring down the caesar!" he said loudly and a lot of gasping people started chattering about it._

 _"The saddest thing is, that they even made a child to join them! Please, bring him," he commanded. Stolos looked up, hoping that he might be talking about some stranger. At the sight of the bruised boy, Michendros only said: "I am sorry, Stolos. This is all my fault."_

 _They watched how the soldiers lead Dentorons on the podium. He was welcomed with booing and people yelling at him. Dentorons glanced quickly at Stolos who was standing in the middle of piled up wood, then he was made to sit on his knees, facing thr crowd._

 _"For his crimes, he shall pay," the man said and another one came with an ax. At this moment, both of the brothers started to struggle with the ropes around their wrists, desperately trying to get out and save the kid. But it was useless. The ropes did not move at all. Dentorons' head was laid on a stump and with a few swings of thr ax, his head rolled down the podium. Stolos stared at it with disbelief, only able to scream out: "NOO!"_


	11. Chapter 11 - I am back

John lead Stiles out of the fallen building while looking around for any other potential threats. Stiles stopped in front of the ruins and watched them. He wondered if and when is someone going to find this place. Suddenly, he felt a little dizzy which made him remember that a lot of his blood was still inside the building. His eyes searched for the older man and found him on his right side.

"What about this?" Stiles asked his brother. John glanced towards the ruins and then back at his brother.

"Your blood could be an issue, right?" he asked, closing in to the place where Stiles was tied up before.

"Hm," Stiles nodded and watched John's back. Stiles knew that he was already taking care of it. Within seconds, Michendros turned back around, holding a jar filled with blood.

"You want it back or are you alright with having it as a decoration?" he asked, smiling a little.

"Prefer it having back," Stiles smiled back, remembering how they used to joke about these things back then. This thought made Stiles sadden a little which of course didn't escape to John who just quietly approached Stiles and looked at him.

"It's going to be slightly uncomfortable," John informed him. Stiles raised his eyebrows at him and said: "You are telling me as if this was new to me."

"Sorry, I just-"

"No hurt feelings, just continue."

...

Either the watch on her wrist was malfunctioning or it was already two hours since John left her on the deserted street. She has talked to the police, of course. Described her boyfriend from foot to every mole on his face but nobody had called since. Lydia wasn't sure if she is experiencing stress, nervousness, fear or anger. Maybe everything at once.

While pacing through the hotel room forth and back, she was mumbling for herself wha to so next. She checked her phone whether John has texted her back or not. He hadn't rven seen the message. What if they caught him, too? What if he got lost?

Suddenly, she grabbed her coat, stuck important belongings into the pockets and marched out of the room, determined to find Stiles. She was almost at the entrance into the hotel when she was disturbed by her vibrating phone. Her fingers dove into her left pocket and withdrew the phone. Someone was calling.

"Hello?" she said as she put the phone to her ear.

"Lydia, you aren't answering your texts," John's voice said with concern, "are you alright?"

"Hell no. And I didn't get any messages," Lydia said annoyed.

"Well, I've been sending you imessages, so... if you aren't connected-"

"That doesn't matter, did you find him?" Lydia cut him off, angry that he wastes time with this nonsense.

"Um, wait," John said. Lydia put her hand on her hip and rolled her eyes. How could he expect her just to wait. But her rage was calmed down immediately by the next words which came out of the phone.

"Lyds, it's me. I am fine," Stiles said.

"Stiles!" Lydia almost screamed. "What happened? Where are you?"

"Don't worry, we are almost at the hotel. Just sit tight, I'll tell you everything as soon as we arrive."

The heavy feeling she had on her chest disappeared at once. Stiles was alive and well, thanks to John apparently. She had to wonder who he really was. A childhood friend perhaps. She sat down into an armchair and thought about all the possible options. Her thoughts were interrupted, though, with her hearing two familiar voices. She jumped up excitedly from the seat and as soon as she saw her boyfriend, she fell into his arms, fiercely hugging him and kissing his face.

After several seconds of welcoming her darling, she had also noticed the tall man behind Stiles, standing awkwardly at the nearest wall. Her suspicions and anger towards John vanished at once. How could she be at odds with him when he found her Stiles.

"John," she said lightly, making him look over to her, "I don't know how to thank you enough!"

"Oh," he said and raised his palms, "you don't have to. It was nothing."

Stiles glanced at him and they quickly exchanged their looks which of course Lydia didn't miss. She squinted her eyes at her boyfriend and before he could have said something, she suggested: "What if we went to the hotel bar and you two told me how do you know each other, huh?"

John and Stiles glanced at each other as if they were silently communicating together. Stiles shrugged at Lydia with a simple: "Sure."

"Oh, wait. I need to talk with the receptionist first. We'll meet at the bar in a few, okay?" Lydia said, remembering that she should call off the police. She ran off before the two men were able to react.

On the way to the bar, John suddenly asked: "So... are we going to... tell her?"

"What exactly?" Stiles asked, himself trying to answer his question in his mind.

"Well, at least the brother part? I need to explain how I know you..."

"Hm. And the kidnapping story is still the same as we agreed on the way here?"

"It's your choice, Stolos."

"Don't call me Stolos. At least not here, alright?"

"I am sorry, I didn't want to-"

"That's fine. Just wait for me to explain and then go with it," Stiles said as they sat down to a table for four.

"Yes, of course," John said and looked behind Stiles where a waiter was standing. "You want a drink, then?"

"You want me to drink?" Stiles asked with genuine surprise. He still could remember how his brother hated when he drank. John shrugged and replied: "Well, now it's different, isn't it?"

"Meaning that I can't do much damage."

"At least not as you used to do...," John said, his tone a little bitter which made Stiles feel guilty.

"You know I regret it, right?"

"It's a long time ago, a lot of things have changed since then."

"But if it weren't for the Clan-"

"You can't know, Sto-... Stiles."

"Hm," Stiles hummed quietly and focused his eyes on the strawberry blonde walking to their table. He greeted her with a grin, John also smiling at her as she sat down.

"How did it go?" Stiles asked her, leaning back in his chair.

"Good, good. Have you ordered yet?" Lydia asked, her gaze switching from Stiles to John.

"No, we haven't. We waited for you," John said with his smooth, calm voice. Within seconds, the waiter came to their table and took their orders. Lydia ordered white wine as usual, John wanted a Chadonnay and Stiles chose an espresso. The waiter was back quickly because they haven't had so many guests so late in the night.

Lydia put her fingers on her glass and gave the two men sitting around the table a short glance.

"So," she exhaled, "what happened?"

John looked at his brother, waiting for him to start and wondering what he'll choose to say.

...

 _Suddenly, flames bursted out around Michendros and Stolos. They had to put the wood on fire, Michendros thought. Stolos was still crying out loud for the loss of his friend. It wasn't exactly crying, though. He screamed and yelled, as if he was in agony, tears flowing down his cheeks. Michendros' heart ached at the sound of his brother's suffering. And now, they were about to burn._

 _For Michendros surprise, the fire didn't spread towards them, it only grew bigger on the outside. He noticed the faces in the crowd, the awe and the fear. And then there was the executioner standing with nothing in his hands, staring at the brothers in disbelief. This was it, Michendros thought._

 _"Stolos!" Michendros urged and Stolos' sobbing got quieter. "This was you, wasn't it?"_

 _"What?" Stolos asked in confusion, seeing the flames for the first time. "Oh, we are already burning," Stolos said sadly with acceptance. The fire started to close in on them._

 _"No, no! Stolos, focus. It was you who stared the fire. You can stop it, too."_

 _"What? How? Try it yourself, genius."_

 _Michendros rolled his eyes but realized that Stolos is somehow right. He should be able to do this as well. "Take my hand," Michendros ordered and found Stolos' fingers to grasp. "Let's do this."_


	12. Chapter 12 - Escape

_The brothers held each other hands, or at least they reached the fingers of one another. It felt odd for a moment but before long, they were able to feel the new energy in their bodies. It was as if somebody put on a candle in pitch darkness and its light began spreading, illuminating the space around it, making everything clear._

 _It didn't take long to figure out how to use their newly discovered powers, it was as if they recalled an old memory. The flames surrounding the brothers were extinguished at once. The citizens standing around became confused by the sight of the brothers. Maybe even slightly concerned._

 _Suddenly, a child cried out: "They are sorcerers like the girl!"_

 _These words ignited chaotic panic in the people. Some chose to walk quickly away, some gathered their courage to fight off the threat as did the soldiers who appeared as soon as they could. They felt prepared, shields in front of their bodies, swords withdrawn, the others fetched stones from the street or held a different weapon. Sadly, for them it was no use._

 _Stolos jumped down from the podium and looked over to the headless body which used to be his dear friend. The sight of Dentorons awoke the fury yet again and in a second, all the people prepared to fight were tossed away several feet like they didn't weigh a pound. Michendros walked to his brother and said quietly but still with a note of urgency: "We need to get out of Rome. Now."_

 _"We need to burry him properly," Stolos said without looking at his brother. Michendros nodded and watched Stolos picking up Dentorons' body from the ground. Michendros went to fetch the severed head which was thrown in an old bucket._

 _"Let's go, then?" Michendros said, raising the bucket a little so Stolos saw that they had gathererd all the parts. They headed to the forest which would help them keep cover before they reached the borders of Rome. It was quite simple to pass the streets without anybody giving them any attention because not everyone was informed about the execution of the brothers, let alone their faces._

 _So, they managed to get out of the sight quite quickly and only stopped when they felt like they had been far enough from the city. Stolos put his friend's body on the ground, carefully, and looked around._

 _"Here. It's a good spot to bury him, Mich."_

 _"Yes, I suppose it is," Michendros agreed and put the bucket down. "You think our new abilities cover grave digging?"_

 _"I do believe so," Stolos said and looked at his hands. "You don't... Well, feel it?"_

 _"I feel something, or I am not sure if 'feel' is the right word for it. It's more like awareness," the older brother said and glanced at the ground before him. Within seconds, the clay began to rise on its own and piled itself next to the hole which created itself._

 _"Nice rectangle," Stolos said dryly and picked up Dentorons' body again, carrying him to the newly digged-out grave. He jumped down into the hole and laid the body into the dirt. Michendros stretched out his hand with the bucket so Stolos could reach it. The younger brother took it, his eyes locked on the item which contained his once good friend and pulled out his head. Stolos had to close his eyes at the sight of the deathly stare of Dentorons. He laid the head next to the body so it might seem as if it was not ever parted and jumped out of the hole, discovering another new feat he could do._

 _Michendros silently watched Stolos who was still looking down into the hole. "You know, it's fine to grief," Michendros said suddenly._

 _"It's not grief that I need. He doesn't need grief."_

 _"What then?"_

 _"I shall end them. That's the least I could do for him. This was his reward for being close to me. I can't leave it like that."_

 _"Stolos, do you really think that's the best way?"_

 _"What do you suggest, brother? Leaving him dead here and go live on?"_

 _"Well, it sure is a tragedy but more blood won't solve much."_

 _"We'll see."_

Lydia watched her boyfriend's lips move an inch, releasing a sigh. She put her fingers on his hands supportively and waited.

"Where to begin, huh?" Stiles chuckled nervously, such behavior John hasn't seen in years. John leaned back and took a sip from his glass whilst his eyes looked at his younger brother, observing the now obvious changes.

"I am not sure why they took me, I guess I resembled someone else, you know-"

"Is that so?" Lydia asked with concern. Something was off about Stiles, she could tell, as well as John could tell that Lydia had this feeling but he remained quiet.

Stiles looked at Lydia's fingers gently touching his skin. He withdrew his hand and shook his head suddenly.

"No, no. That's not true. Lydia I need to tell you the truth. I can't lie to _you_. It was enough. You deserve to know," Stiles said quickly, confusing the redhead and making John open his eyes a little wider in surprise. Stiles looked over to his brother and said quietly: "I can't lie anymore. She needs to have the opportunity to choose."

John shrugged and calmly answered: "I am not to interfere with that, Stiles. You do as you think is best."

Lydia watched them with a confused grimace on her face. "What now?"


	13. Chapter 13 - Revealed

Michendros hasn't expected his brother to disclose such information to a simple redhead but apparently the years lived as a normal young man had some impact on Stiles, or at least that was what Michendros thought when he observed his little brother's sweaty forehead while he was trying to express himself.

 _Weird to see him so... human,_ Michendros thought as he continued looking at Stiles who had finally opened his mouth.

"Lydia...," Stiles began, raising his hands a little as if he was awaiting something which needed to be blocked away, "it might sound ridiculous, well, it will for sure sound like that... I am not exactly who you think-"

Lydia squinted her eyes at her boyfriend with slight suspicion. "Are you guys trying some joke on me?" Lydia's eyes switched to John who was still just sipping his beverage.

"No, no. We are not," Stiles said, finally sounding a little more confident, "look, let's start with this. Here little _John-y_ is my older brother."

"Oh! That's wonderful," Lydia said delighted and glanced at John who gave her a quick smirk.

"Yeah, yeah, sure is. That wasn't the point, though. We aren't just normal brothers, you see-"

 _Well, isn't this splendid,_ Michendros thought, being a little entertained by this situation. He was going through multiple possible scenarios which could happened after his brother had finally revealed them to this young girl. Only half of them seemed to be troublesome.

"We were actually born in Europe and were kidnapped. They took us to Rome-"

"That sound's horrible! Stiles, why haven't you ever told me?" Lydia said with shock.

"But... but it wasn't... gosh, how do I say this... They took us to the Roman Empire," Stiles said and silently watched Lydia's face.

"You lost me there, sweetie," Lydia said slowly.

"We weren't born in this time, Lyds... We were a part of Ancient Rome – we lived there, until we changed..."

"This sounds like a bad Doctor Who episode. What are you trying to get on, Capaldi?" Lydia said, leaning back into her chair and crossing her arms on her chest. Stiles nervously run his hand through his hair and looked at his brother who gave him sarcastic smile.

"I know it sounds made up. But that's why I haven't told you much about my background because I just... couldn't. I found this perfect girl and I didn't want to ruin it. But now I realize that I've stolen the choice to choose from you."

The redhead looked around, hoping that there weren't any hidden cameras. _Would he joke about this, though? I haven't ever seen him so distressed before,_ she thought.

"Alright, let's hear it then. Tell me whatever you want to tell me. But I don't have a mood for you pulling my leg, okay?" she said strictly and Stiles nodded.

"I am not sure where to start... My brother and I lived as the Roman soldiers for a few years after we've been kidnapped. They killed our parents which I couldn't forget nor forgive. And you know, in these times, the world was more open to things such as sorcery. It was known it existed at least. We two were exposed to it one day and became something else... than human. What happened afterwards... well, I am not proud of that. I can't say it was the power dwelling in us which corrupted me. I suppose it was in me the whole time... and because of what I have done- well simply said, we were cursed. Since that day I couldn't feel the energy inside of me anymore. I was human again. And John left. That I understand... what would you do around me anyways."

Michendros seemed puzzled a bit before he said: "What? That's what you think, is it?"

"Well, yeah. Why would you leave me, then?"

"Isn't that obvious? You could finally start over. Have a proper life, find somebody you love," John gestured to Lydia whose eyebrows were risen, "with me around, how could you ever forget about your past life? I am aconstant reminder of it. You had a second chance and I just couldn't ruin it for you."

"You haven't said a word! You just left!" Stiles said, his voice raising a little.

"I-I am sorry for that. It was hard for me. I wouldn't bare to look you in the eyes and say goodbye. Don't you understand?"

"No! I don't. After everything we've been through..."

"Guys?" Lydia finally said, interrupting the brothers who both turned their gaze at her. Stiles' eyes were still filled with rage and disappointment, John's on the other hand were calm.

"This all is slightly confusing. Um, so you are trying to tell me that you were a human, then you weren't and now you are one again? That's very sweet but if you really want me to believe this, I need to see proof."

"Uh, yeah, of course. Michendros is proof, I can't do anything anymore."

"Michendros?" Lydia asked.

"Oh, yeah. That's his real name... forgot to mention that before."

"And you have also some fancy ancient name?" she said with slight annoyance. It still seemed only as a stupid joke to her.

"Stolos," Stiles said, his eyes looking down, realizing that his reveal wasn't successful much.

"This is getting ridiculous, Stiles. I am going to bed. Hope you will explain tomorrow," Lydia said, standing up from the table.

"We need to leave, brother," Michendros suddenly said with a serious voice, making Lydia a little angry now because he acted as if she didn't deserve an apology for their behavior towards her.

Lydia has been going crazy from worry when Stiles was kidnapped and now they are pulling bad pranks and not acknowledging her at all.

She kept standing at the table, switching her gaze at Stiles who rose his eyebrow at John. Stiles knew what this tone meant. Danger was nearby.

"What's happening?" Stiles quickly asked and stood up from his seat.

"Intruders, let's say...," Michendros said when suddenly a gunshot came from the hallway. Everyone in the room started panicking and running around like confused sheep sensing the presence of a wolf.

"Lydia, let's go," Stiles said strictly and grabbed her by the wrist. She didn't protest at all. Her eyes were locked at the chaos around her, panic slowly rising within her as well.

"Stiles...," she whispered and finally looked at him, her eyes filled with fright.

"Let's leave, come on," John urged and pushed the two towards the door which lead to a garden behind the hotel. "It is quite cold outside, we need to hurry."

"Everything is in our room, though!" Lydia realized.

"Really? That's what you think about right now?" Stiles raised his voice.

They quickly got out into the garden, heading to a gate which lead onto a street.

"I'll gather your belongings, I don't think it would be good if they snoop through your stuff. We don't want them to know more about you than they already do now. Just go ahed. Here are my keys, get in and drive away. A blue Chevrolet 67, you'll recognize it. Go," John said and headed back.

"John! What the hell!" Lydia yelled out. "Jesus, we can't let him go in there! Don't you hear the shooting?" her words were followed by another four loud gun firings. Stiles looked behind Lydia at the hotel and then back at his girlfriend, grabbing her by her hands.

"Sweetie, I know that you think what I told you is bunch of nonsense but believe me, he'll manage just fine. We should get going, though. We aren't bulletproof," he said with a calming smile.

"Stiles...," Lydia breathed out, trying to ignore her dilemma and focus only on her survival. She looked up into his hazels which were suddenly wide open.

"Stiles?" Lydia asked carefully. She didn't receive any answer, though. She only felt how Stiles' hand roughly moved her aside which made her struggle for balance a bit. Why would he be so harsh with her all of the sudden?

Lydia glanced to her left when the shot had fired. It was as if time itself had slowed down for Lydia. The shooting behind her in the hotel wasn't important now. Ashamed to admit it, she didn't care about it at all. The only thing which she focused on was the bullet piercing through her boyfriends gut, making him fall down on his back.


	14. Chapter 14 - What

Her hands were pressed on the fresh wound tightly. She had no idea if what she had been doing was for the good or not. The blood seemed to find its way away from the body anyways. Stiles' heavy breathing was the only noise her ears could've captured, everything else was irrelevant for her.

Lydia began gathering the snow around her, creating a small icy ball out of it. _Maybe if I make the area around the bullet hole colder, the bleeding will slow down,_ Lydia thought.

"My, my. Why did you stick around when I told you to leave?"

Lydia got startled by the unexpected voice coming from above her. She looked up to see John, and to her surprise, he seemed quite annoyed by the situation. He was holding two suitcases in each hand and had Lydia's purse on his shoulder. Lydia opened her mouth to say something but nothing came out. Her emotions were mixed together and her thoughts were a mess. One thing did make her furious for certain, though. _How can his own brother stand here, oblivious to the seriousness of the situation?_ she thought.

But before she could have had shared her opinion with John, he was already sitting on his knees besides Stiles. He softly moved Stiles so he'd be able to sit up, leaning against John's torso.

"You can rest now, I'll take care of the little issue," John said to Stiles who blinked once at his brother and then kept his stayed shut.

Lydia looked quicky back at the hotel, realizing that the shooting had stopped. She returned her gaze to John who was just picking Stiles up and slowly standing up. He repaid Lydia the long stare and then finally said: "Are you coming?"

Lydia opened her mouth, ready to say something but John interrupted her: "Could you carry the second suitcase, Lydia?" He nodded to the luggage next to him whilst grabbing the other one with his fingers of the left hand, lifting it up with ease.

Lydia obeyed without a word. She wasn't sure if she was in shock but the only thing she was able to do was follow the tall dark-haired man down the street. When they had finally stopped at a car, Lydia got one sentence out of herself: "We should call emergency... get him to a hospital-"

"There's no need to seek medical help," John said calmly and laid his brother down on the back seats.

"What? He was shot for fuck's sake!" Lydia yelled at him in disbelief.

"I know. He's fine now. He just needs some rest. So, please, don't scream," he said and opened the door of the car for her, "please, sit. I'll put the bags into the trunk."

"How is he possibly fine?" she asked, becoming a little dizzy from the situation.

"Well, have a peek then. You can sit in the back if you want," he said, closing the door he had opened for her before and went to put the luggage into the trunk. Lydia hurried to sit next to Stiles, making herself feel bad of the lack of care she had given him before. She opened the door and carefully sat down next to Stiles' sleeping body. She laid his head into her lap and her hand began looking for the wound. The blood was already dry when she touched his skin and she realized that in comparasion to her body, Stiles' was quite warm. Her fingers stopped at the belly button, her eyes focused on his stomach to see the expected hole in his gut but the only thing she was able to see was skin covered with blood – no wound.

When she raised her gaze again, she noticed that the car was already moving. Her eyes fell on John who was behind the wheel.

"Where's the wound?" she asked flatly. John's eyes looked up into the rear view mirror and then back at the road in front of him.

"I thought he had told you how it is."

"I-I... John, please quit being like this."

"Like what?" he asked, sounding rather genuine.

"I don't know! Just- your brother gets shot and you are like this!"

"Well, he is all right now, isn't he?"

"I suppose-"

"So why should I be behaving differently?"

"It just feels so... wrong sonehow. Not normal. Don't you get it?" Lydia was puzzled by John's cold attitude towatds the whole situation. She squeezed Stiles' hand before she asked another question: "How come he fell asleep?"

"Must have been tired," John said. Lydia furrowed her eyebrows and looked down at Stiles' peaceful-looking face. "Come on, I am not that stupid. What did you do? Some injection? Pill?"

The only response she got was a soft chuckle.

"Where are we going exactly?" she asked after a while of silence but didn't receive any answer either. Lydia noticed that John was repeatedly looking into the rear view mirror and it wasn't at her. It seemed to be at something behind the vehicle which started to concern Lydia as well. She glanced back, once and then once again, to see a black car behind them.

"John, what's going on?" she asked carefully.

"It seems that we are being tailed, Lydia," he informed her flatly and gave her a quick smile.

"Tailed? God, why are they so obsessed with you?" Lydia asked, suddenly realizing that she had apparently accepted the fact that the brothers could be hunted for some reason.

"Hm, Lydia, please be so kind and look after my brother for a moment, I'll be right back," he said and stopped the car at the pavement.

"What? Where are you going?" Lydia asked, surprised by his sudden decision which was in her opinion very reckless.

"To have a chat with them, of course," he said and got out of the car which made her a little angry. She immediately looked for the keys which were fortunately left behind in the ignition. _If things go down south, I'll just drive away,_ she thought. Lydia felt a little bad for wanting to leave John alone there but it was his stupid choice, wasn't it?

She snapped out of her thoughts to look how the situation was evolving and was surprised to see John standing by the car, which was following them before, slightly bent down to be able to see into the window and was having a _chat_. Lydia turned around the moment the older brother straightened his back again and returned to his vehicle.

"So?" Lydia asked when he was finally sitting behind the wheel.

"So what?"

"How did it go?"

"Quite well."

"Care to elaborate?"

"What would you like to hear?"

"I don't know, for example... who are they?"

"Oh, just some guys from the government..."

"What? Why were they following us?"

"Wanted to know where our hideout is."

"You have a hideout?"

"No. I don't have a reason to hide."

"John... I get that you are answering my questions but please I want some explanation."

"Uh-huh. Sure. Let's get inside first, though," he said and stopped in front of a tall building. John quickly got out of the car and opened the trunk.

"Could you fetch these?" he asked Lydia who was still sitting in the backseat with sleeping Stiles.

"I'll take him if it's alright."

"Ok-Okay," she obeyed and went to grab the bags and suitcases which had thankfully wheels.

It only took them a few minutes of awkwardness before they had reached John's apartment.

"Here we are," John said after opening the front door and switching the lights on. Lydia left the luggage in the hallway and followed John to the spacious living room where he laid his brother on a couch.

"So?" Lydia asked, waiting for the promised explanation.

"Oh, yes, of course. I think, though, that _Stiles_ here should have the honors," he said, snapping his fingers at his brother who immediately opened his eyes.

"W-woah, my stomach-," Stiles murmured and squinted his eyes at the two who were staring down at him – Lydia with slight confusion, irritation and also relief, John with a smug smile.


	15. Chapter 15 – Meet the divine

"What do you mean with 'he told us to leave' for god's sake!" a man, around his forties, raised his voice at his subjects who just watched the floor beneath them. They know that despite their boss' kind appearance, he was able to get very serious and angry.

"You had one job!" he insisted.

"But sir! You must realize that what we are dealing here...-"

"I know! But they need to be under surveillance exactly because of what they are. And when the satellites can't track them nor anything else we can use... the shooting was the only hint we got in years!"

"You should maybe reconsider Mrs. Turner's offer..."

"I don't want anything in common with that witch!"

"Well, then maybe use a little blood... You need to use the right instruments in this situation. It requires supernatural techniques, sir."

"Alright," the boss sighed, "prepare it then."

Stiles blinked a few times to adjust to the bright light. He felt a pinch in his gut but he knew well that his brother had taken care of the bullet.

Slowly sitting up, he looked up at the redhead standing in front of him, smiling a little at the sight of him being well again. Her smile diminished quickly, though, as soon as she realized all the questions she had for those two.

Stiles looked down like a guilty child and waited for the shower of anger.

Meanwhile, John left to gather the bags and put them into the guest room.

Lydia crossed her arms on her chest, her eyes locked at her boyfriend.

"So, first of all, what the hell?" she asked, raising her voice a little. "We come here to enjoy Italy and suddenly you get kidnapped for whatever reasons and then the fairytale you told me...? You explain yourself, sir."

"Lydia, it wasn't a fairytale. How do you think I got rid of the bullet?"

"I-I don't know! You tell me!"

"I know," John chuckled, returning to the living room to have a seat next to Stiles.

"How are you feeling, _Stiles?"_

"Stop saying my name like this," Stiles said strictly.

"Hmm. Sure, sure, don't get edgy. Look, if this is going to be a problem for her, I can fix it for you two," John offered with a smile.

"What is he talking about?" Lydia said, slightly alarmed.

"That doesn't matter, Lyds. Mich, you don't need to do anything now, she deserves to know."

"Oh, does she? Then it's alright," John said sarcastically and left for the kitchen.

"Lydia, why don't you sit down?" Stiles asked kindly and Lydia did actually sit down into a leather armchair in front of him. She crossed her arms again on her chest and glared at her boyfriend.

"Look, I've done plenty of stuff which aren't considered as good, I suppose. Sure, I had my better and worse moments but in the end people usually remember the evil brought onto them rather than the good. Throughout the centuries, my brother and I have taken on a lot of new identities and lived many lives. My real name is Stolos. Stiles Stilinski is a name I adopted after my powers have vanished."

"How come they have _vanished_ , as you say?"

"It was a curse put on us both by a family clan-"

"But you said John is still the same... why's that?"

"I had a theory, actually," John said from behind the armchair Lydia was sitting. He walked around Lydia to the coffee table to put some refreshments on it, grabbing a glass of wine himself.

"Really?" Stiles asked with genuine interest.

"Oh yes. I looked into that issue as soon as possible. I gathered enough information to make a few conclusions."

"Which are?" Lydia asked, finding herself actually interested about it.

"Well, first theory which I found plausible was that they simply wanted to punish you for the things you have done, so they have stripped you of your powers. But I didn't find any possible way how to realize this. Not on you at least. After some other reaserch, I came across a rather complicated curse which takes away one's most precious thing in their life. When I realized this, it made me feel a little blue but it seemed as the correct answer."

"Wait, wait. So, you are saying that they put a curse on me so I'll lose the most precious thing, a.k.a. my power?"

"They put the curse on both of us, brother."

"But you seem alright...," Stiles said, wondering what had his brother lost.

"You don't get it?" Lydia interrupted Stiles' thoughts.

"Get what?" Stiles asked.

"Geez, it's obvious!" she said, rolling her eyes at him. Stiles sent her a puzzled look which made Lydia sigh loudly.

"It's you, dummy," she said and looked at John who turned his gaze elsewhere.

"What? You mean that the curse caused that you lost me? But that's nonsense. You left me on your own will," Stiles said, trying to talk over the fact that he loved his power more than his own brother.

"Yes, it feels like it. I don't want to throw my responsibility for my actions on somebody else, but I truly believe that the curse was the cause of this. It just meant to separate us thus making us weaker. When you became human again, I just couldn't ruin your chance for a new life. Or at least that's how I saw it. Maybe, if I didn't leave, we would be able to fight back... But I run away cowardly and that's something-"

"That's something what we don't do," Stiles finished his sentence and smirked at his brother. Lydia, who now was silently sitting in the armchair and listening to the two brothers, was slowly realizing that she is taking the information she hears as the truth. Stiles and John talked about it in such a causal way that Lydia started to feel a little weird if she were to doubt them on their story. But then again, it sounded all so unreal. At least in her ordinary life of an human adult living in NYC.

"Mich? Is everything alright?" Stiles asked suddenly when he noticed John's furrowed brows.

"Well, it would seem that I am being summoned."

"What?" Lydia broke her silence.

"How?" Stiles wondered.

"That's quite interesting actually. It feels like an old blood spell."

"That's weird... I wasn't aware that the old witches still did this...," Stiles murmured.

"Well, there aren't many left... _we_ know _that_ for sure. And the rest wouldn't dare," John said, standing up and putting down his glass of wine.

"Can you pull the person here before they summon you completely? You don't know what would wait for you on the other side of the call," Stiles said.

"Hm, still managable I suppose."

Lydia was feeling very left out at this moment but before she could've said something, her query became unimportant when she has noticed John's sudden eye color change.

It looked as if he was staring into something which wasn't visible for Lydia but what was the most disturbing for her were his eyes. His dark brown eyes were now glowing with sky-blue color which was still able to contrast with his pale skin somehow.

Lydia's staring into John's eyes was interrupted with Stiles coming into her view and saying: "Lyds, I get that you are probably angry with me now but please let's sit a little further from him. We don't know who was trying to reach him."

He offered Lydia his hand and she numbly reached it, letting him lead her to the other couch further away from John. When they sat down, Lydia's eyes looked into Stiles', trying to find the mental support he had always given her. But, did she really want his support? She didn't even know him, apparently.

Stiles gaze wandered away, though. Lydia frowned at him but then she understood. She turned her eyes back to John who wasn't standing there alone anymore.


	16. Chapter 16 – Coulson

The preparations had taken for about an hour before everything was ready. They wanted to have it perfect so they wouldn't have to deal with some supernatural mess they have not been prepared to face.

This organization may have existed for a few decades already but they haven't uncovered all the mysteries let alone gotten to know about all of them.

Coulson was speeding back and forth to mask his obvious nervousness.

"Sir?" a worker approached him.

"Yes?"

"It's ready."

"Uh-huh. What did you use for the tether?"

"Your arm, sir."

"My arm? Wasn't there anything more... clean?"

"Well, this was the only thing we kept since-"

"Yeah, yeah. Alright."

They have entered together a room which was illuminated only by red candles now. The floor was covered with strange symbols and markings. Coulson walked in with caution. He never liked all this magic and supernatural but since he was moved to the special forces, he had to face these things almost daily. But twelve years ago, he has met some serious threat alright. And now he is ready to end it once for all.

A man in a yellow suit came to Coulson and handed him a gas mask.

"Sir, you will need to follow these instructions," he said and gave him a piece of paper, "and then 'cast the spell'. As soon as he appears here, we will fill this room with the fumes and he should fall asleep at least for 15 minutes. Then we need to act quickly."

"Yeah. Great. What if it doesn't work?"

"The spell or the gas?"

"Either I guess..."

"If the spell doesn't work, we won't face much danger. If the fumes won't work. Well, then good luck, sir."

The man left the room after this and Coulson was now alone. Not alone, alone of course. There were cameras inside.

Coulson stepped into the middle of the circle and looked at his cut off hand which was lying in front of him in a bucket filled with ice and began reading the instructions.

It seemed quite simple. Drop some of his blood on the tether, saying some difficult-to-pronounce words and wait.

After putting on the mask, he did all the steps written down on the paper. He was very careful with his pronunciation because what if he said some other word and it changed the whole ritual into something else.

Unfortunately, after the last word he said so carefully, nothing happened. He looked at the cameras and waited for some other orders but nobody said anything. Coulson took off his mask and put it on a table next to the wall, and again he looked into the camera.

"Guys?" he tried. No answer.

"This was a failure, then. Let's pack it up," he said and tried to step over the white line painted on the floor but something had pulled him back.

"What the-"

At once, everything became blurred and distorted as if he were fainting. He didn't black out, though. Once again his sight came in focus again, he wished he had never underwent the ritual.

"Well, look at you. And we almost thought you'd be a person of _some_ significance." The bright blue eyes digged into Coulson's as their light sky-like color began to fade into chocolate brown irises.

Coulson swallowed, his throat was very dry suddenly. It was him. _Him._ He felt how his courage from before had vanished like it was nothing.

He wasn't in the safety of their base anymore. He was in some sort of a living room.

"Hello there," the tall man snapped his fingers at him.

"Wh-What do you want from me?" Coulson asked suddenly.

"Me?" John pointed to his chest and chuckled. "Wasn't it you that 'called'? And just to make clear, I don't like people thinking they can summon me simply like that. But I am in a good mood today... so, tell us, what is it that you want?"

Coulson looked around him for the first time, noticing that behind him was a redhead who stared at him with wide green eyes, and next to her- it was the other one.

 _Oh, god. I am certainly dying here,_ he thought.

The other _thing_ raised his left eyebrow at him and said: "Well?"

"I-I don't think I'll be explaining my reasons. I believe that you two have already decided about my fate, have you not?"

John scoffed at this and sat down at the couch, looking up at Coulson, boredom in his eyes.

"Ah," he sighed, "either I look up the information myself, or you'll tell me. You don't want to ruin my good mood, do you?"

Coulson looked at John and then the redhead whose eyes were watching the situation carefully.

"She," Coulson said and nodded to Lydia, "is she your pet or is she like you two bastards?"

"A pet?" Lydia asked quietly and looked at Stiles whose lips curled up a little, his eyes piercing the strange man through. She has never seen her boyfriend like this before. Her eyes glanced away from him. _Who is he, really?_

"So," John ignored Coulson's insult directed towards Lydia, "who might you be?"

"You don't remember?"

"...Am I supposed to?"

"You cut off my hand!" Coulson rose his voice. Michendros' eyes fell on Coulson's left hand which now was artificial.

"Well, it only brought you an improvement, didn't it?"

"So, you remember..."

"Not really, no."

"You killed around dozen of my men to steal from us."

"Hm, let me think," John said and scratched his chin, "oh, _Stolos,_ it was for the jewelry, wasn't it?" he looked at his brother and raised his finger which bore a golden ring with a black crystal.

"That was about twelve years ago, though," Stiles remembered out loud.

"You have been 'after us' since then?" John asked with a polite tone.

"Yes."

"Took quite a while," Stiles said, his voice having the hint of arrogance Lydia had never encountered before.

"That's sweet that you have tried so hard and now you tainted yourself with blood magic," John said with a pitiful smile.

"What do you mean?" Coulson asked, confused.

"What do I mean? You don't know? A human who plays with this sorcery gets tainted. Slowly getting eaten by it from the inside. Your energy will fade until you, well, die."

"What?!"

"There are ways to be cleansed, of course. But since your job is hunting down the ones who could have helped you... then I don't know who else will help you," Stiles said flatly.

Coulson looked at the brothers, feeling defeated. He killed himself alone then. They didn't have to raise a finger to do it.

"So, help him for christ's sake," Lydia said suddenly making all the men in the room look at her. Coulson was the most surprised of them all. John's face seemed unfazed by her input, though. He glanced at Coulson once more and said: "Give us a minute, will you?"

He swiged the index finger towards him and Coulson fell right into the armchair where Lydia was sitting before.

"What have you done to him?" Lydia cried out.

"Calm down, _Ariel_ , he is sleeping," John said soothingly.

"Oh, hell no," she stood up abruptly and walked to John.

"Lyds, don't-" Stiles began but Lydia cut him off.

"You, mister, have no right to tell me what I should do or not. This whole thing is nuts! My boyfriend is a psychotic murderer who went on killing sprees with his even more of a psychopath brother. And now, after elegantly showing me what is up, you want to kill another man in front of my eyes? Who hasn't even done nothing? First thing, you will let him go, don't harm a hair on his head. Second, I will take the first plane to New York and you won't stop me. Am I clear?" Her eyes switched from John to Stiles and back. Stiles glanced to his brother, reassuring himself that Lydia didn't push too much. He might have been his relative but he was also able to lose his cool and Stiles had no way of stopping him now if John decided to silence her. But John had only an entertained smirk on his face, watching Lydia's fury in her eyes.

"She has some fire inside her, no wonder you grew to like her, brother," he said, giving Stiles a kind look.

"Actually, I grew to love her, Mich. And I think you should consider what she's saying."

Lydia kept her serious face but was very relieved to hear Stiles back her up. Deep inside, she was aware of the threat John was to her.

"Huh, you have changed a bit, haven't you, _Stiles?_ Did these six years really undone what the other centuries have formed you into, though?" John asked and approached his brother who was now uncertain of his own safety as well. Yes, he felt different. But his brother was the same.

He stared into John's eyes which suddenly softened at the sight of his younger brother. John touched Stiles' cheek with his hand and said quietly: "Must be a little liberating. I'm glad for you."

This time, there was no arrogance or superiority in his voice. It was genuine.

"But," he said, taking his hand from Stiles' face, "you can't really escape your past, can you now? She may help you being a better man but that would mean you'd drag her into our world. You want her to see it?"

"And who's saying I will stay with him, hm?" Lydia said. John looked at her with a soft smile. "You love him, too, don't you?"

"Well, that doesn't matter, does it? You two are crazy and murderers."

"Let me ask you a question. Imagine your father went to war, to fight for your country. He drops bombs on the folk of the other country. You know, fulfilling his duty to his people. You think that the people who died because of the bomb saw it as a heroic act?"

"What has it in common with you two killing random people because you wanted to steal a stone?"

"Maybe nothing, maybe everything. Just that people have killed people from the beginning of times and it won't ever stop. In my experience, great cities and leaders originated in blood. And sure, we are no saints, but when you live this long... You can't avoid a little violence. We might have adapted too well, I must admit. But after seeing our 'peaceful' friends die because they have decided not to shed any blood- well, call us whatever you want, but believe me, we aren't just shallow murderous shells. And if my brother loves you, then you are important to me as well."

"Why are you suddenly so nice to me? Do you realize that you change your behavior with every ten minutes?"

"Yes, I do that sometimes, I am sorry," he said and walked over to the armchair where Coulson was still asleep.

"What are you doing?" Lydia said, being on alert.

"We should finish this," John said and grabbed Coulson by his shirt, pulling him up to his feet.

"Welcome back. Had a good nap?"


	17. Chapter 17 – How little do you know

Coulson looked around with wide eyes, realizing that the horror wasn't a dream. John let go of his shirt and straightened it up a bit with a smile.

"We've come to a conclusion," John said cheerfully.

"Did we?" Lydia asked carefully, noticing that Stiles had stepped a little closer to her.

"Indeed. Listen now. We don't want to come across as hostile. We'll listen to your concerns and then we can make an agreement which is mutually beneficial. What do you say?"

"Sounds like a deal with the devil."

"Well, I am not the one with the bloody eyes here, am I?" John said and glanced at Stiles who sighed.

"I personally want to make this work. Why make another enemy, am I right?"

"We already perceive you as a threat to humanity," Coulson said dryly.

"To humanity you say? Aren't you exaggerating a bit there? Well, tell us what did you have planned for me? You know, if the summoning went your way."

"Close you up, favorably forever. Be bait for your accomplice here if everything went well. Study you, get to know what you are, taim you."

"That sounds unpleasant."

"It does sound rather _pleasant_ to me."

"Hm. So, look. What if we tell you our names at least, I'll help you with your tiny blood magic issue and give you my phone number so you don't need to get tainted again and you won't have the need to stalk us. If something is up, some problem emerges, give me a ring. Sounds good?"

"And what do you get out of it?"

"Well, maybe I'll need something in the future and you'll be able to provide it. Nothing heinous, of course. And what do you know, maybe gain a friend or two."

Coulson had his suspicions but what else could he do? He had either this option or death, and if this _creature_ tried to be of help at least a little, then why not. Because, if the two decided to eradicate the base, they would do it right away. Or wouldn't they?

"How should I be sure that this is not some mind game, huh?" Coulson asked, folding his arms on his chest.

"Hm, I suppose you can't. But you aren't the type for our _mind games_. This is genuine. Take it or leave it. And I mean it. You can leave but with no memory of our conversation."

"Without the cure?"

"Hm, with. Why not. But you won't remember the side-effects of bloos magic so you might try it again."

"Can you give me reassurance, lady?" Coulson turned to Lydia who was surprised by his question.

"Me?"

"Yes. You are the only one here who I'd consider to trust."

Lydia looked at Michendros and Stolos who looked at her with unreadable expressions. Her eyes ended up on John who softly smiled at her. "I mean it," he said.

"I believe that he's saying the truth, sir," Lydia finally said. Coulson nodded. "Alright then. It's a deal."

"So, my name is John, this is Stiles," he introduced them with their new fake names, "now about the dying issue. Would you please sit down?"

"Sit down?"

"Yes, it might be uncomfortable and it's easier if you sat down."

"Okay," Coulson said and sat back into the armchair. John lowered himself a bit and looked him in the eyes and put his hand on Coulson's chest.

"Don't be alarmed about this, it's not something which should harm you," John said with his calming voice while his hand slowly made its way into Coulson who looked at it with shock.

"Don't worry, I am only accessing the spiritual part of your body, therefore not damaging your meat suit."

Lydia watched this whole situation in disbelief whilst talking to herself in her mind.

 _This is a new level of insane! I can't believe what's happening. This supernatural shit just barging into my life... my boyfriend being whatever he is... or was. I-I need to get out as soon as this matter is done. I can't think clearly._

"Hm, it seems that it has already gotten into your soul," John informed Coulson who began sweating.

"What- is it fixable?"

"Uhm, yes. Just takes a little more effort," John said, closing his eyes to focus better.

"Can you seal it back?" Stiles suddenly asked, breaking his silence.

"It'll be scarred a bit but it will work."

"What do you mean by scarred?" Lydia asked.

"Well, just a scar. Like you have on your wrist right there, sweetheart. It's still a part of you, but others can see that once you were vulnerable. If someone detects the scarring on his soul, they could find it easier to manipulate it. In your case it would be in more of a mental way. Here, it's more of a spiritual one."

Lydia looked at her wrists where the thin scars from her puberty were and covered them with her sleeves.

"Observant, aren't we?" Lydia said with a dry tone fished her phone from the pocket of her jeans. John withdrew his hand from Coulson and politely smiled: "Done."

"Really? I won't die?"

"If you were to die then this won't be the cause," John answered and straightened his back.

"Now to the phone number. You don't have your phone with you, I presume," John said, looking at Coulson up and down.

"No, I left it at the base."

"Hm, I don't want to write it down on a paper. It would be better if nobody else got this number if it's okay. I don't desire random people calling me."

"So, how do you wanna do this..."

"What if you just remembered it?"

"Well, I can't promise that-"

Coulson was interrupted by John's thumb pressing against his forehead for a few seconds and then John withdrew it.

"Try to recall my number now."

"But," Coulson said but realized that he is aware of some new information in his mind, it was indeed a phone number, "is it really...?"

"Yes. Pleasure doing business with you. Tell me, what did you use as tether?"

"...my hand."

"Oh," John chuckled, "that will be simple, then. Goodbye for now." With these words, Coulson disappeared as quickly as he was summoned before.

Lydia glared for a while into the empty space where Coulson had been standing a second ago and then dialed the number she had found some time before if anything were to happen.

"Who are you calling?" Stiles asked, curious and concerned.

"None of your business, is it now?" Lydia replied and turned away from him. Stiles gave a desperate look to his brother who mouthed the word _taxi_ to him. Stiles repaid him with a sad look.

"Well, tonight was a blast, eh?" John said and began collecting the refreshments from the table.

"Oh, hello, I'd like a ride to the airport, please," Lydia said when someone finally picked up. Stiles came closer to Lydia, trying to enjoy her presence when she was still there.

"Hey, do you speak any English?" Lydia asked angrily after the taxi driver rambled on in italian.

"Lyds, let me," Stiles said quietly which made her jump up a bit because she didn't notice him close in on her. Lydia gave him a suspicious look before she asked unpleasantly: "What do you want?"

"Order you a taxi to the airport," Stiles said shortly and stretched out his hand for the phone. Lydia squinted her eyes at him and handed him the phone. He looked at her with empty eyes, something she yet hasn't seen on Stiles, and put the phone to his ear. She stared at him whilst he said a few sentences in Italian which was absolutely fluent. Within seconds, Stiles handed her the phone back with simply announcing:"It'll be here in ten minutes."

She nodded and went to grab her bags, ready to leave. She stopped at the front door, though, having a last glance at the brothers. Stiles looked at her in silence, his face unreadable which was something new for Lydia, and John who gave her a polite smile and waved at her with his wrist, saying: "Have a pleasant flight, _Lydia."_

Those words somehow stung her, realizing that her decision will turn her life around. Quickly, she hurried out of the apartment before she would have changed her mind.

With the bang of the door, the brothers were left alone in the apartment. Stiles sat down on the coach and his face visibly saddened. John looked at his younger brother with pity.

"Believe me, she will come back," he said to Stiles.

"Yeah, to give me my stuff."

"No, no. I mean she'll return to you."

"How can you be so sure about that?"

"She tasted the hidden part of the world now. You think she will be alright with the ordinary stereotypical life she had led until now?"

"Still better than being with a murderer, isn't it?"

"Oh, _Stolos,_ how little do you know how people work."

"Hm."

"Just wait and see."


	18. Chapter 18 – Back Home

The flight took ages. At least Lydia felt like it. She was wondering if she could've fallen asleep but despite her being up all night, her thoughts were keeping her wild awake.

She realized how fast everything had happened. It was only hours ago when she had peaceful dinner with Stiles and then—.

The redhead stared into the magazine she was trying to focus on, but her thoughts always wandered off.

 _How was Stiles able to keep that from me? Well, I suppose I don't even know him. He's a total stranger to me now. Who is he even? Maybe he did want to change... or maybe he didn't have any other choice than this life – me... He lost his mojo, didn't he? Oh god, this is all so confusing. I've been sleeping with a murderer, for fuck's sake. I can't even tell anyone. That's insane! And John, his brother... what he did there, that was way beyond my understanding of the world. What is he even? A demon? Angel? Deity? Or just some messed up thing born from mother nature..._

Her fatigue had finally taken over, though, and she fell asleep.

When Lydia finally landed in the United States, her final location wasn't New York City. She was going home, to her old family's house. The last time she was there was Christmas time two years ago. Since then, she was only calling her father to catch up on the recent news. Lydia had to admit that she felt a little guilty because of that and now even more when she was standing in front of the door, hesitating to ring the bell.

But then, she did press the button and within seconds, the door flew open. An older bald man, around his fifties, with a flannel shirt and blue old jeans stood at the door frame and looked at his daughter in disbelief. It was really her.

"Lydia? What are you doing here?" he asked sofťy, being secretly glad that his little girl came home. Lydia looked up into her father's chocolate eyes, not being able to stop the tears rushing down her cheeks. All of what had happened had finally come down at her as she broke down in her dad's arms who gave her a warm welcome despite Lydia's negligence.

He helped her to get inside and sat her down at the kitchen table where she was still sobbing a bit. Her father handed her a cup of herbal tea and sat down as well. He stared at her for a while and then said:"What did the bastard do to you?"

Lydia glanced down at the warm liquid inside her cup, thinking about what to say. What could she say, really? Her father was a religious man who would either not believe her or take incredible measures to take revenge.

The silence angered him even more as he cried out: "I always knew he was a bad fit for you! Lemme find him and-"

Lydia made herself smile at her father, simply saying: "Don't worry, dad. Nothing serious happened."

A yellow mustang stopped at the sidewalk with two men sitting inside. Both feeling a bit awkward to be in this situation.

"You could have bought a school bus, the outcome would be the same," Stiles said annoyed and slightly concerned that they will be spotted right away.

"Calm down, would you? She isn't there, anyway," John said monotonously while looking up at the building next to them.

"She is not?" Stiles wondered.

"Nah-uh. I don't think she was there at all."

"That figures, what would she do here. I guess she went home-home."

John sent him a curious look which made Stiles rephrase: "To her dad."

"Aha. Alright. So, do you want to do this?"

"Yeah, let's go."

The brothers entered the building in silence, both deep in their thoughts.

 _Maybe, she'll come back,_ Stiles thought. _She could accept me– no, I am being naive. Again._

When they got to the apartment, the younger brother began packing right away. Mostly, because he wanted to avoid any possible interaction with Lydia if she were to come unexpectedly. What would he even say to her?

Meanwhile, John looked around the place, checking out the lovely photographs which either hung or stood in a visible spot so the pair could see their love at all times.

"Nice decoration, brother," John said when Stiles passed him with a few bags in his hands.

"Hm. Can be thrown away now."

"So quickly to give up, are we?"

Stiles eyes ended up on John's calm smile and then looked away, feeling a little guilty.

"Well, what am I supposed to do. I can't possibly make her to stay, can I now?"

"Ah, you and women, Stolos," John sighed, sitting down on a couch and patting next to him with his hand.

"Come sit down a bit, we should finally have a nice chat."

"What? Here? This place isn't–"

"This place is good as any," John cut in and offered him a reassuring nod. Stiles obeyed and dragged himself to the couch. John glanced at his brother and then looked down on the white fury carpet.

"Is she like... _her_ to you?" John slowly asked.

"What?" Stiles asked despite knowing what his brother meant. Whom he meant.

"Well, you know. When you spent your time in Japan once."

"Hm. Can't compare, I think. Both are really important to me"

"That's enough I need to hear, then."

"Huh?"

"I believe you two will cross paths again."

"Yeah, when I'll be giving her the keys to this apartment."

"Hm, so that means you'll be living with old me for the time being?"

"Seems so. I do still own an apartment in France, but I don't think I am up to going to France. And the other places– I sold them. I thought I would never use them again..."

"Figures. And how have you been?" John asked with genuine care.

"Okay, I suppose. The first year was the hardest, but you know, we know how to adapt."

"We usually made the surroundings adapt, though."

"Hm, that's why it took a year or so."

"Well, I knew that you had enough finances to start with, so–."

"So, you left. 'Cause I had cash."

"That was one of the reasons I didn't stay, yes. I knew you'll get by. I didn't want to stand in the way of your fresh start."

"Yeah, I've heard this before... But you could have consulted me about it first!"

"You'd only choose me over your new opportunity to have a proper life."

"So what! They chased me down anyways."

"But you wouldn't have met Lydia."

Stiles wanted to fire back with an counterargument but stopped himself for a bit. John was right. He wouldn't have met her. But does it matter now? She's gone anyways, or is she?

"So what, another heartbreak...," Stiles finally said.

"I am not that sure about that, Stolos," John smiled at his brother and stood up.

"Let's pack the rest up and go, what do you say."

Stiles nodded and continued packing, now with John's help. Within thirty minutes, they were already back at the car, loading it with all sorts of boxes and bags.

"What do you think she'll do when she finds the apartment without your stuff?" Michendros asked, closing the trunk of the car.

"Well, she'll be relieved, I suppose."

"Are you sure?"

Stiles thought about it a bit more. Lydia wasn't a person who'd easily give up. She was always strong and resilient. But does this apply also to this case? Is she willing to give him another chance?

"Honestly, I am not," Stiles answered after a while.

"Here you go."

"Hm," Stiles replied and opened the car door, "let's go."

John nodded and walked around his vehicle to get behind the wheel. But before they were able to sit down, a familiar voice came from the sidewalk.

"Stiles? Hey!"

Stiles looked up into the brown excited eyes and said with a smile: "Hi, Allison."


	19. Chapter 19 – Sharing's caring

Yes, she was late – again. Without Lydia at work, nobody covered for her late arrivals anymore and well, Allison wasn't used to it yet. So, there she was, rushing to the Café.

Every day, she passed by Lydia's and Stiles' apartment which made her corners of her lips always shoot up. They were such an odd couple, but Allison thought they were cute. And Stiles really seemed to care about her redhead co-worker.

And here we were again, passing by the building. This time, though, Allison noticed someone at the sidewalk. Someone rather familiar.

"Stiles?" she stopped and looked at the face full of moles. Her eyes wandered a bit to the right where another man was standing. He looked at her, expressionless, as if he was only observing the situation.

She knew him from somewhere, didn't she?

"Oh, hey," Stiles finally said when he woke up from the surprise of seeing Allison.

"Whatcha doing here? You came back already?" Allison asked, her eyes concentrating on Stiles again.

"Uhm, yeah. Well... Not sure how to put this. Lydia kinda left me, I suppose. You should probably call her or something," Stiles said carefully, watching Allison's reaction.

The brunette blinked twice at this new and hard-to-believe information, her gaze landed again at the other man who was now resting his arms on the yellow car and then they returned to Stiles.

"I am sorry... I don't know what to say. That's so unexpected."

"Hm, kind of is, yeah..."

Allison's thoughts were interrupted by her buzzing phone which threw her into reality again.

"Oh, gosh, I am late for work!" she cried out, "I gotta go... Bye for now, I guess," Allison said and run off.

Stiles turned back to his brother whose eyes were following the young girl hurrying to work.

"What?" Stiles asked.

"There's something about her. Something off."

"What's that?"

"Not sure. Didn't dig further. I found it impolite," John smiled at Stiles who rolled his eyes at him.

"Like _that's_ the reason..."

"I might have lost interest in her after a while," Michendros admitted.

"Here we go."

LYDIA

The noises coming from the TV became quite distorted after a while. Her eyes were fixed at the blonde lady on the news but the words weren't taken in anymore. Her thoughts were with him, again.

Lydia sat in the living room, motionless. The past few days, she's been sort of numb.

The rational side of her told her that she did good, leaving _them_ so quickly, being able to 'free' herself from that burden. But wasn't it just running away from problems, though?

 _Well, more like running away from murderers_ , she thought.

The emotional side, some might call it the _irrational one_ , was reminding her of how she really felt about Stiles. How she loves him, still.

It happened many times already. Her hand reaching for her phone, almost calling him. Why didn't _he_ call, though? Hm, if _I_ were in his place, I wouldn't either. I'd think he'd despise me...– Do I despise him?

Lydia closed her eyes for a bit, massaging her forehead. _I don't hate him_.

"Lyds? Someone's here to see ya," Lydia's father called out from the hall. Lydia jumped up. She was expecting this visit after all.

Within a few seconds, the familiar face was standing in front of her.

"Hey, Lyds."

"Yeah, hi," Lydia said and went to hug her friend who squeezed her real tight.

"How are you feeling?" Allison asked with a concerned look.

"I've been better," Lydia replied with a chuckle which lacked the common brightness Allison knew.

"You gotta tell me what happened. This is so–"

"Unexpected, right?" Lydia finished her sentence.

"Well, yeah. You two are great together. Or were...–"

"Hm..."

Allison noticed that Lydia's eyes focused on the TV screen instead of her. Her green eyes widened suddenly which woke an interest in what was on the screen in Allison as well.

"Lydia?" she asked when she looked at the fancy-looking woman on the news. Lydia watched the screen, without answering.

Allison looked back at the TV where now she could see a live reportage. A lot of police 'do not cross' tapes were in the background and the news lady was doing an interview with some person who did not look like an American.

"We've been there," Lydia said suddenly in a quiet voice.

"There?" Allison asked and stretched out her hand for the remoter to put some volume on. The two girls stood next to each other, staring at the blonde behind the microphone, looking all gloomy and concerned.

"–Yes, what a tragedy. We thank Mr. Galliardi for all the information and offer our condolences," the woman said, changing her expression from sad to dramatic, "why did the attackers _murder_ all of these people and how did they all suddenly die of suffocation? And where did the mysterious man who Mr. Galliardi and even the security cameras saw?" The reporter raised her eyebrow dramatically whilst a picture of low quality showed a tall bearded man striding through the halls and the armed man falling to their knees around him.

The screen of the TV went black as Lydia turned it off, Allison gave her a confused look which Lydia repaid with a long stare.

"You wanna know what _really_ happened?" she broke the silence.

"Well, yeah...," Allison nodded, feeling a bit weirded out.

"Let's go to the garden, okay?"

STILES

This apartment had to be new. At least Stiles didn't know about it.

He looked around Michendros' living room while his brother carried the bags into the extra bedroom. There weren't any photos nor anything specificly bound to John. Of course there wasn't anything. Stiles used to do this too, or rather not to do.

When Michendros finally came back, done with the bag-carrying, he approached Stiles and put his hand on his shoulder.

"Weren't you a bit taller?" John asked with a mocking grin on his face.

"Haha. I guess that being human means looking like this for me."

"Hm... You hungry, brother?" John changed the topic, not wanting to dig around that topic for some time.

"Actually, I am," Stiles said, rubbing his tummy," by the way... when did you get this place?"

"About five, four years ago..."

"That's almost–"

"Yeah, I guess I had to know if you're still kicking. I managed to be some time away... In Africa actually, doing some business. But yeah, it drew me back here."

"So... You were living so close-by all the time?"

"Yes."

"And I had no idea, of course."

"No, you had not."

"Did you spy on me?"

"What? No," he laughed, "but you know how it goes... I checked up on you when something happened. That happened rarely, though. 'Suppose that even being human, you are still quite handy. But being close was enough. Sometimes, I had a chance seeing you – when you went to work, or something."

"Hm, you've been doing it for what... four years?"

"Well, not all the time but I had my peace and enough information about you. And you looked so happy–"

"With Lydia?"

"Yes."

"Hm."

"What about some friends? Have you made some?"

"Well, I had a guy in work. Thomas. We went for lunches and all... but he was kinda secretive about his roots, like me... so, that sorta played into my cards and we were both fine with it."

"Only Thomas, then?"

"Hm, of course I kept good relations with people but I wouldn't consider them as close, let alone friends."

"Apparently, things haven't changed a bit," John chuckled as he proceeded cutting vegetables. Stiles closed in, watching his brother's fast but precise movements. At first, he wanted to offer help, but seeing John doing this common task so perfectly, he didn't dare to ask. He'd only be a slowing everything down. So, he sat down into a stool which was at the kitchen bar. Stiles rested his head in his palm as he watched Michendros cook.

"I really regret leaving you, Stolos," Michendros said in their native tounge which made Stiles feel sentimental and blue.

LYDIA

The lighter clicked, lighting up the cigarette which was tightly held between her lips. _Damn_ , she thought. After Allison slowly released the grey smoke, directing it upwards, she glanced at Lydia whose eyes were revealing slight uneasiness. She, too, took out a cigarette to have a smoke.

"So?" Lydia asked impatiently.

"It's... intense."

"Wait, you believe me?"

"Uh, why would you lie about this? And just look at yourself, I know when you're joking and when you're obviously in shock."

"What? I am not in shock."

"Of course you are. Who wouldn't be? You were at a mass shooting, Lyds... and your boyfriend has a wizardie brother."

"...What should I do, A?"

"Maybe things clear up in due time on its own."

"That's hard to believe."

"Hm," Allison hummed and sank the rest of her cigarette in their home-made ashtray.


	20. Chapter 20 – Boring Life

STILES

The alarm clock began ringing. Stiles opened his eyes wearily and stretched out his hand for his phone. The sound of the alarm was the most loud and annoying one but it was the only one which made Stiles counscious again.

He squinted at the bright light of the screen. 06:15. _That's fine,_ he thought and put the phone back on his night table, almost automatically. Before long, he was deep asleep.

06:25. The buzzer went off, again. It took him a while before realizing that it's not a dream. Stiles sat up and reached for his ringing phone. His eyes adjusting to the light took a few seconds, but before he pressed the 'stop' button, the door of his room flew open, crashing into the wall. Stiles jumped up a bit from surprise and his hazels made their way to the person standing in the door frame.

"Are you _bloody_ joking, Stolos?!" John said in a very passive aggressive voice, speaking the language of their home village.

"What," Stiles replied in english, being a bit confused from the intrusion.

The older brother stared at the still ringing phone in disbelief. He marched into the room and grabbed Stiles' phone.

"Shit," John sweared and sat down on the bed, reaching for Stiles' hand. "Give me your god damn finger."

Stiles obeyed and let his brother unlock the phone with his thumb. "Did it wake you?" Stiles finally said, watching John managing something quickly on the screen.

"What do you think? As if the other five times weren't enough," John said bitterly and placed the smart phone on the bed. "How can you wake up like that? It's disastrous."

"I don't know, it's the only way I get up...," Stiles admitted.

"How did _she_ suffer through this?" John said, now in a calmer tone.

"Well, Lydia does the same thing," Stiles answered quietly with a small smile on his face.

"What?" he said in disbelief, "soulmate material, I suppose."

"Hm. What did you do to my phone?" Stiles asked, changing the topic.

"Tell me when you need to wake up and I will be the buzzer for you, alright? I don't need to sleep that long anyways."

"Really?"

"Yeah, why not. I don't even need to invade your room for it, but you know that..."

"Hm," Stiles looked elsewhere for a moment, thinking about the life he had before. John just sat there, watching his brother spacing out a bit. That didn't matter, he was glad his little brother is back with him. _What a stupid impulse it was, to leave him._

"Mich," Stiles said suddenly, "do you know something about _him?"_

"No, I thought that he'd seek you out on your own if he wanted. It was you two having this odd relationship... I've never fully grasped it to be frank."

"He did not, though... I knew that him being an anti-technology person won't come in handy. But he sure had other options... I couldn't help but wonder–"

"I can't picture that kid without you, to be honest. It does strike as weird... maybe something happened to him."

This sentence brought fright into Stiles' eyes. He looked at his brother in slight terror and plead: "You have to help me find him."

"Sure, _Stolos,_ if you wish," John said, standing up, "but first let's have something to eat, shall we?"

...After having a refreshing shower, Stiles was welcomed with a big English breakfast and hot coffee. The brothers didn't talk much, though. But that wasn't an issue at all. On the contrary, it reminded them of the quiet days they used to spend together in peaceful times.

All the things happening at once, Stiles was even looking forward to going to work. At least something ordinary and stereotypical. But is it really something which Stiles desired? He wasn't sure anymore. Slowly, the younger brother was becoming anxious of his ambivalent feelings.

At one hand, he craved for the safety and mundane life he had created for himself in the past six years, but on the other hand, his past caught up to him, reminding him that this life is _boring_ and absolutely _meaningless._

When he arrived at his office, he did his automatized routine. Hanging his coat on the wall, opening the window for fresh air, putting down his bag next to the working desk and turning on the computer. He then went to the kitchen to pour himself a cup of coffee. The kitchen at the workplace was quite small so the employees wouldn't spend much time in it. But Stiles didn't mind the cramped space, or at least it didn't bother him when his co-worker Thomas hanged around.

This morning, though, Tommy didn't come to the kitchen as usual. Stiles checked his watch. 10:09. It was a bit late already, he should have been working already.

 _Maybe, he got stuck in traffic. Not that uncommon in NYC,_ he thought as he walked down the hallway to his office.

Stiles sat down into his chair and put down his cup on the table. Suddenly, he noticed a piece of paper lying on the keyboard. A note of some sort. He picked it up curiously and unfolded it.

The next few words made him freeze on the spot, though.

 _We have her. You better give yourself up to us if she still means something to you._

That is just a bad joke, right? Or not? Stiles grasped the note with his fingers and crumpled it a bit. He suddenly marched out of his office, stopping in front of the door.

"Stiles, hey!" a familiar voice came from the right. It was Thomas. The blue eyed brunett with a sharp jawline waved at him and said: "You okay, pal? 'Seem a bit paler than usual."

Stiles didn't answer, though. He only knew that he couldn't let himself get distracted at the moment. So he strided off to a different, emptier part od the hallway.

 _I need to call Mich,_ he thought as he went through his pockets. _Damn, I left the phone in the office–_

At once, he felt a sharp pain driving through his head when something hard hit him. Slowly, he slided to the floor, unconscious.


	21. Chapter 21 - Betrayal

LYDIA

The evening Lydia went to bed was quite peaceful. At least for her state of mind. Opening up to Allison made her feel much better. Not only did she finally get everything off her chest but she found understanding as well which made her more secure about the whole issue.

Now, she was ready to wake up and face anything life would put in front of her.

Unfortunately, life decided to take the harder path yet again. She couldn't believe her eyes when she finally woke up from her pleasant sleep. It was dark and cold, she could even feel humidity surrounding her. As soon as her sight had adjusted to the gloomy place, she was able to recognize actual metallic bars on her right, the rest were just three damp walls.

Her panic rose even more as she realized having her hands cuffed together behind her back.

Her breathing ironically quickened as she tried to calm herself down, quite unsuccessfuly.

Lydia's heart almost gave out when a distant, hoarse voice spoke: "You... smell like him."

It was a man, speaking very slowly, sounding as if his throat hasn't seen any water in ages. Lydia summoned all of her courage to say a simple: "What?" in a high-pitched voice.

"Hm, you... know Michendros?"

"What?" Now Lydia answered right away. But then it hit her. _Michendros_ , she heard that before. Well, of course. Stiles said it... Michendros is John. So... This person has to mean John.

"Huh... You're useless," the man replied and returned to his silence.

"Wait, you mean Stiles' brother?"

"Stiles?" he said with a hint of amusement, "I didn't even know you can have such a stupid name nowadays," he said quietly, the conversation apparently exhausting him.

"How do you know them?" Lydia asked with curiosity, slightly forgetting the situation she was stuck in, letting it make her lean closer towards the voice she heard.

"Long story. Probably wasn't that important, though. If it were, I would not be stuck here I suppose."

"Well, maybe, they don't know you are here–," Lydia caught herself defending them which caught her by surprise.

"Impossible, Stolos _knows."_

Because of what he is?" Lydia asked carefully.

"Hm."

"That explains it. He isn't anymore!" she exclaimed a bit louder, immediately making her feel a bit more aware of where she is.

"What?" he simply said with a heavy British accent.

"Well, I don't know much, to be frank. But he's normal, you know, I think..."

"You're saying that _Stolos_ is only human?"

"I wouldn't put it that way... He's not _only_ human...-"

"That is not the point here..."

"Oh, yeah. Sure," Lydia said and looked through the bars, squinting her eyes at the dark figure opposite to her cell.

"Where are we actually?" Lydia asked.

"A cell, I'd presume."

"That's all you know?"

"I know that we are in this rotten place because the so-called sorcerers aren't able to cast big spells anymore, so we were placed in a prison which was enchanted by the old ones."

"Oh, that's why it looks so worn down..."

"You could say so."

"And... what do they want with us?"

"These good-for-nothings probably think of us as bait. But bloody hell, like if that worked with me and now they try you? They seem quite desperate."

"Well, I am close to Stiles," Lydia defended her position.

"Are you? How long do you know him? Because I met him in the early 19th century."

Lydia was taken a bit aback with this statement, reminding her that she had actually no idea with whom she had lived all this time. But she voiced another thought of hers.

"So... and you would be what now? I guess I can cross _human_ out."

"Hm, I'll tell you if you agree to help me with getting out of here."

"What? You know how to get out? Well, I'll help if I am coming, too!"

"I can't promise much but I will do my best."

"What would I need to do?"

"Um, I know some blood magic... Michendros used to have all sorts of books about it, so I picked up something along the way. But I need another two people at least..."

"Two?"

"Yes."

"That's one more than we have, no?"

"I am aware... It will need you to make the person who will bring you food bleed. Like with a bite or something."

"Why don't you do it?"

"They don't visit my cell."

"But... how do you–"

"I don't... that's why it is so complicated to get out of here by myself."

"So why would they put me here when I can help you?"

"Bloody hell you are only questions, aren't you?"

"I want to know, otherwise I won't help you."

"They think I am almost dead... I didn't show any sign of anything basically... for a few years now. So, I think they don't await me having a chat with anybody."

"Why didn't they just dispose of your body... if they think you're dead."

"They fear me. And as I said before, the coven has grown weak. This cell is safer for them."

"I don't know if I can bite enough to make somebody bleed, though."

"Of course, you can. You just need motivation."

"Hm, I'll try then... And if I manage it... then what?"

"Cut yourself, too."

"This sounds unpleasant."

"Spending here another six years is unpleasant as well."

STILES

It felt like some pressure on his wrists made him hang loosely somewhere. He tried to move but the only result was something tightening around his waist as well.

His eyes felt very heavy which made him feel a little nervous.

 _I was drugged probably. No. No– that's not it. Lydia... the note. The– this is magic._

Finally, Stiles opened his eyes, revealing the surroundings to himself. He seemed to be in a stone-walled room, more of a dungeon. And he wasn't alone. Quickly, he looked down onto himself, realizing that his body is tangeled in some sort of a branch which made him hang from the ceiling.

There wasn't a way to get out. Not at least on his own. Stiles was very well aware of the fact that he wouldn't be able to fight off a dozen of sorcerers and magicians.

A woman, clothed quite plainly, approached Stiles' hanging body with a victorous smirk. Her blonde hair was put into a tight bun which somehow made her seem strict.

"So, here you are, the mighty _Demon of the dark age_ or _God of calamity._ That's how you are called, right?... or maybe were called," she said with a chuckle, "now... you are just sad."

Stiles didn't bother to answer. He knew how these things went down from experience. But for the first time, he wasn't the one with the upper hand.

"Not gonna talk, huh?" the woman said with a low voice, breaking the eye contact with Stiles whose eyes followed her movements all this time.

"You see, we need you to talk. We, of course, can make it easy, extract the information we need from your head directly and then just kill you. But I just want you to pay back my thanks. For everything you've done you know. For the coven and all. And the biggest treat for us will be you giving us the information about how to end your dear brother. Unfortunately, he is still... well, the big bad. However, you... you are here to help us."

Stiles remained calm on the outside, however his thoughts were all over the place. He had no weapons and he couldn't defend himself against magic, therefore it would be very simple for the magicians to withdraw any information from his mind. And yes, he did know how to make Michendros vulnerable and that was something he kept for himself all this time.

"Let's begin," the woman commanded.

LYDIA

 _Someone's coming,_ Lydia thought and went through the plan the other prisoner told her. She had no idea who he was, what he was... not even his name has he told her. But her instincts told her that he wants to get out as much as her. And that was the thing which brought them together.

Within minutes, a guard came to her cell and laid down a bowl of rice and a cup of water. He arose quite quickly, ready to leave but Lydia stopped him.

"Sir? May I have a quick question?"

"What," he spitted, not turning around.

"Look at me please, I don't want to be rude but... how do I... well... you know I have a bit of an issue. It's my time in the month, you know. So... how do you suggest I... well... with my hands cuffed and without anything on me..."

This obviously made the guard feel a bit uncomfrotable. He scanned the redhead up and down and said: "I'll be right back."

During his absence, Lydia sat down on her knees, trying to seem as innocent as possible. It didn't take long for him to return.

 _Even just a drop is enough_ , Lydia repeated the man's words in her mind.

It took the guard around ten minutes to come back. He opened the cell's door and walked in with a plastic bag.

"He-Here you go, lady," he muttered and was about to leave.

"Wait, what? I'm supposed to do it here? And with my hands cuffed?"

The man nervously looked around and withdrew the keys from his pocket. "I'll uncuff you, alright. But don't you try to do something _smart."_

Sir, I will literally just insert a tampon into my vagina," Lydia said with an annoyed tone, rolling her eyes.

The man leaned closer to her wrists and put the key into the keyhole. Lydia waited for the moment the key turned to make her bold move. And there it was. *click*

The lock was undone and only a loud shriek was heard in the dungeon coming from the guard as Lydia bit into his index finger with all her strength.

"Jesus Christ, woman!" the man cried as he withdrew his hand from her. Lydia quickly bit her arm, causing it to bleed as well and spitted the mixture of bloods on the dirty ground.

She grinned at the guard who gave her a shocked look and started backing out of the cell.

"No wonder that you would date that monster," he said for himself and reached for the door to close it.

Lydia's thoughts were a bit clearer now thus she heard the stranger in the opposite cell to whisper something which apparently went by the guard unnoticed.

Unfortunate for him, though. The minute he exited Lydia's cell and locked it, he felt something sharp and long dive into his neck.

Lydia's smile faded at the sight. She has never seen something so violent and animalistic before. Not even movies and shows got it accurately.

This was savage.

Within seconds the guard fell to the ground, his head separated and rolling away a few inches. She finally had a good look at her prison-mate who, despite being dirty from all the flesh and blood, smiled at her gracefully and offered her a small bow.

"You were quite useful in the end," he said, wiping off blood from his eyelids.

"Wait a second, mister. That sounds like you want to get rid of me..."

"Hm... I thought about that... but then again, _Stolos_ wouldn't be happy about that I suppose," he said while ripping the door out with ease. Lydia rose to her feet, her eyes not leaving the man's eyes.

"So, how do they call you?" Lydia asked, trying to ignore all the blood dripping down his body. She examined him closely now, establishing now at least 5' 10'' for him in height which made her feel a bit more insecure than before.

"Credence," he said flatly and looked around Lydia's cell.

"Now," he said slowly, "I've got some questions for you."

"Uh, ok...," she said, coming closer to the entrance where he let her out of the cell and showed her the way with his bloodied hand.

"Who did you tell about the brothers?" he asked directly.

"What?"

"Don't play dumb. You had to tell somebody that got you into this situation."

"Well... to be honest... I told my friend."

"A friend... of course. How does the friend look like?"

"Why is it important?"

"Just tell me..."

"Uh, similar age like me... brown long hair, brown eyes... a big smile. A bit taller than me-"

"A square-ish jawline I presume?"

"Yeah... How do you–"

"Simple. You told a stupid girl whose origins are in this ridiculous coven about two men who are hated by these people. Good job."

"What? But how do you know Allison?"

"Well, who wouldn't have a look at an old vampire rotting away in a cell. I was supposed to be bait for them. That did not work out. Now, you are bait. Congratulations."

"But... I've known her-"

"Does it really matter now? She is utterly useless for her family. I haven't met a person with so little means for magic. Even you've got more inside. She's a failure for them. My theory is that she wants recognition which she won't get."

Lydia felt terrible now. She was walking down a dark hole with a stranger who, in a few seconds, told her that she risked her and Stiles' life for nothing... but then again... wasn't Stiles and John the bad guys in the big picture?

Suddenly, a light chuckle came out of Credence. Lydia glanced over at him and caught him watching her with a playful look.

"You are not sure, are you?"

"What?"

"It's all over your face. You don't know whom to trust..."

"Well, it's all a bit complicated–"

"You've got three options. Either leave after this and have nothing in common with us... Turn against me, Stolos and Michendros and join these idiots or... be on our side and win."

"How are you so sure about winning?"

"Stolos and Mich always do. They can't be beaten."

"You have real faith in them huh? But Stiles is now just like me... and _Mich_ is alone in it."

"Hm, either way, I will have a good snack from the friend of yours. Betrayal I won't stand."


	22. Chapter 22 – One Out, One In

STILES

He was becoming tired from all the punching, kicking and low-level magic spells inducing inner pain. But they knew they can't let him bleed. Not yet at least.

Stiles knew how to handle pain. That didn't worry him. What worried him most was the moment when the sorcerers get bored and will aim only for the crucial information. How to eliminate his brother.

Stiles spit at the ground after another heavy punch into his face. His nose hurt a lot.

 _Has to be broken_ , he thought.

This reminded him the times when he used to be a Roman soldier. _Good old days._

With a loud thud, a big metalic door flew open on his right. Stiles eyes wandered to the side to see what had happened.

He couldn't believe his senses when he realized that there is an old lost friend of his in the door frame and behind him, the redhead he loved.

The four sorcerers standing about in the room began chanting at the sight of the vampire.

"You, go help him," Credence ordered Lydia and disappeared. Lydia blinked twice, noticing that the wizard on her right went down in blood, dead. The other three magicians focused on Credence.

Lydia run to Stiles who looked at her with wide eyes.

"Lydia, listen to me, magic is holding me up so you won't be able to get me down. So... Shit, I hope I won't regret this. Cut me somewhere, Lyds. I gotta bleed."

Lydia smiled at him with her teeth covered in dried blood which took Stiles a bit aback.

"I guess I will have to bite you," she said nonchalantly. Without hesitation, Lydia's teeth sunk into his forearm, making a streak of blood come out.

"More," Stiles said, biting his lip.

"Watch out!" Stiles yelled out but it was too late. A woman with a wooden stick struck Lydia's head who immediately let of off Stiles' arm and dropped to her knees.

"Lydia!" Stiles cried out.

Credence was finally done with ripping the other wizards apart and quickly attacked the last enemy who just hit Lydia.

Within seconds, it was oddly quiet in the room, only Lydia's loud breathing was audible.

"So... you think he noticed?" Credence asked Stiles, leaving all his questions aside for now.

"I do hope so... He needs to be fast, though, otherwise–" his words were interrupted with the sound of loud and fast footsteps nearing.

"Shit, Credence, get her _out of here_."

"I can't leave you here!" Credence protested while helping Lydia to her feet, subconsciously doing what he had been told.

"Stiles...," Lydia voiced and looked up to see his eyes which were filled with confusion, pain and nervosity. She wiped her bloodied lips with the back of her hand. Feeling the adrenaline rising, she looked around quickly and her eyes landed on a knife lying next to a corpse. The redhead glanced at Credence: "Could you hand me that?" she asked, eyeing the shining blade.

"Found yourself a tiny warrior, haven't you?" Credence said to Stiles, a bit of admiration in his tone and reached for the weapon, handing it to the rather fragile girl, in his eyes at least.

Stiles himself was still a bit surprised by Lydia's newly acquired attitude – that didn't matter now, though. If his brother didn't hurry up, they would end up in quite a mess.

THOMAS

 _It's been quite a day,_ he thought. Does he feel weird about it? No, he cannot. The note he had given on Stiles' desk was a good move. He knew it. They got him. _Finally._

He felt good. Yes. Brilliant even. Everything his ancestors tried to achieve. He just did it. Basically by himself. Thomas didn't want to admit it out loud, but he was well aware of the coven weakening. He was one of the few. One of the few capable of _something._

His speciality was lurking about in minds of others, playing with them. So, even after the four, maybe five years of working with _him..._ Sometimes he thought, _he can't be that bad_. But the memories – the memories brought him back on track. Stiles was a _monster_.

"A monster," he whispered for himself, reassuring.

"Thomas," his aunt, Meagan said, drawing his attention to her.

"We need you there, now," she urged and Thomas rose to his feet.

"What's up?" he asked, grabbing his amulet which was hanging from his neck, out of habit of course. The amulet was given to him by his father, Thomas Shelby. Yes, they named him after his father – wanting the child to inherit not only the name but also the talent. He got both in the end. Lucky child, they called him. Not like his cousin. She was a mistake, they said.

"Should've gotten an abortion," once aunt Meagan said.

He knew she meant it.

"The bloodsucker got out somehow, making a mess there, we need to stop him."

Thomas knew that her _we_ meant in reality _you._ The coven thought highly of him, for bunch of reasons which for him seemed merely as luck. At first, he didn't know he was working at the same place like _him._ Why would he go through a head of a random colleague. _Unnecessary, rude even,_ he thought. But a few months ago, he did it, by accident, maybe. Maybe not. And, lucky he, Stiles was just thinking about something in his past. And there it was – a reason to dig deeper. The revelation was shocking and very troubling. He had been grabbing lunches with him every day then. Thomas even considered him as a sort of a _friend. A friend_ , the word felt disgusting now.

Two days ago, yes, only two days ago, a member of the coven; a nerd in Thomas' eyes. He figured out the old diaries of the mighty and long dead family members who wrote about the brothers. About the enemies for life. And there it was, the brothers knew each other weak points, how to subdue one another. How to dispose of each other.

 _And here we are_ , Thomas thought whilst he speeded to the room where his colleague was hanging down, a prisoner of theirs.

Thomas bursted through the door with two other wizards and his aunt, quickly scanning the room.

Stiles, still tied up, the vampire near to him, holding up the redhead, _Lydia_ , he remembered, who held a small knife. Stiles eyes landed on him. He saw how Stiles' lips formed the word _Tommy._ Oh, a sharp pain in his chest. He can't let himself influence by this ridiculous nickname the _monster_ used to call him. Within seconds, though, Stiles' eyes went from sadness to stone cold.

 _There he is,_ Thomas thought, but somewhere at the back of his head, a quiet voice told him: "He feels betrayed, you idiot."

 _No,_ Thomas shook it off and started whispering his chants to get him protection. From the vampire who, surprisingly, didn't attack.

The tall pale man looked at Stiles, as if he was asking a question with his eyes, still holding the girl by the shoulders. Stiles gave him a nod which apparently answered the vampire's query.

All of this happened within seconds, even though it felt like minutes to Thomas. He began marching towards the vampire, about to bring him down with a spell he had quickly rememberd.

A loud thud which was follwed by the walls shaking, cracking even, made everyone stop at their spot, looking around for the source of this disruption.

Thomas had a bad feeling about it, noticing Stiles' arm covered in blood. _He's coming,_ he thought.

And there it was, a loud blow from the ceiling which had collapsed right somewhere in between where Thomas was standing and the enemies.

The brothers glanced at each other quickly, as if they exchanged silent words – there he felt it, energy directed towards them, smacking them against the wall. Thomas was the first one to be standing.

It seemed like they didn't know. _They think they are safe,_ Thomas chuckled in his head, gathering his thoughts again, acting fast. Repeating the words, the foreign language he has gathered from Stiles' depths of his memory.

It was working, the other brother, fell to his knees – it worked faster than expected. The vampire tried an attack. The barriers Thomas had set before worked, though, like a charm one might say. Stiles, still hanging, tied up with magical ropes, looked down at his brother who was, struggling, trying to break the spell. Not the one binding him, though. The one binding Stiles.

 _Michendros_ , the name appeared in Thomas' head. Yes, that's his name. _Michendros_ knows he's passed saving. It only took the three words to cripple him and now, he will finish it. At least that's what Thomas thought.

The ropes, suddenly, evaporated – as if they were nothing more than dust. Stiles quickly jumped down, like a cat almost, crawling to his brother. _Crawling?_ Thomas asked himself whilst he repeated the poising lullaby. _Oh,_ he noticed, _a sprained ankle_ – _from the jump_. Stiles was now close to Michendros' face, caressing his cheeks as if one's lost lover. _Laughable._

Michendros mouthed something. A word. No, two words. _Get. Out._ It seemed that the vampire was faster to act; with his dark bloodied claws and unhuman speed, he cut the redhead's arm as well as Stiles'. Again, started saying something in an unknown language.

Meagan rose to her feet just now, still recovering from the previous blow and charged towards the three who were being binded by a blood spell. The vampire outstretched his hand to grab the other brother as well, but no. Thomas had taken care of that. A heavy burn he only got. _He deserves nothing less._

But that was the last deciding detail. The vampire, carrying the two on his back and front, like a parent, having his little children in some sort of scarfs tied around his body, he jumped up through the hole in the ceiling – like Superman flying away up to the skies. But no – Thomas had to finish his chanting, he couldn't stop now. They will catch them later, the coven has the big bad now.

"Bastards," aunt Meagan said through her teeth, "Jerry's dead, he hit his head way too hard. But you're doing good, my boy," she said. The first sentence just a statement. Meaningless information. The second one, like a owner petting his dog for catching the ball. Thomas hated that. He hated being called like that, like something which is owned.

The job's done now – he stopped his lullaby.

"What now?" he asked.


	23. Chapter 23 – What now?

ALLISON

 _It was obvious, how did I even not think of it?_ she thought nervously in the backseat of the cab which was making its way to the mountain. _It's ridiculous that we have a place here. Inside of a fucking huge rock._

"Miss, are you sure this is the right way?" the taxidriver asked carefully.

"Yes, yes, go ahed," Allison answered sweetly. She understood that the blonde woman behind the wheel could have felt a bit unsecure on this almost forgotten way which lead through the woods. _Thankfully, it's still light outside. But it won't last long. God, how do I get her out..._ her thoughts wandered from this and that.

When she got the message from her cousin, she couldn't believe her own eyes. Or could she? Was she aware of it? That her mom would do it? Maybe yes. But–

The car stopped. "We aren't there yet–" Allison said.

"I... I didn't stop the car...," the taxidriver said, perplexed. Her confusion exchanged a look of shock when she glanced into the back-rear mirror. Allison did, too, look back, and gulped.

 _Fuck._

She felt the terror rising within her, it was hard to breath.

 _How did he get out?_ she panicked. The back of the car has risen a bit and fell back down with a loud thud. The taxidriver was frozen in shock. _Not the_ _reaction I need,_ Allison thought.

She was only able to watch the nightmare going around the car, stopping by the window where the blonde woman sat. He gently tapped at the glass – it seemed almost funny. The taxidriver looked at him, her eyes wide open. "Yes?" she said slowly, without opening the window.

"Could you please wait here for a bit, love?" he said, british accent sounding through the window. _So, he's from England. I actually haven't ever heard him speak,_ she realized.

"We just need to borrow the lady in the back for a minute," he continued with a smile. The taxidriver looked back at Allison, puzzled.

 _There's a we, then,_ Allison concluded and looked at the other side. Her eyes got caught at the sight of her redhead friend, giving support to her boyfriend. Or exboyfriend is it now?

"Uhm, miss?" the taxidriver interrupted Allison's thoughts, "do you know these people? Am I to unlock the car?"

"I think... even if you didn't, they'd find a way. So... please, open it."

"Uh-huh, she answered in disbelief. Click. "Opened."

LYDIA

It has been a wild ride up to now. It happened all so fast, she just now was slowly realizing what had happened. Lydia looked at herself, noticing the dried blood on her clothes. Some was hers, some wasn't.

They were now at the top. They had to been inside some sort of cave system in this hill. Because there were only woods and plains around.

Credence was standing a bit further from them, as if he was trying to find something. _A way out, perhaps,_ she thought. Her eyes landed on Stiles who, now realizing, was heavily hurt. He had a lot of bruises, some scratches, his nose seemed crooked, broken probably, and he couldn't stand on his left foot. The reality of the situation hit her just then, she looked at his worn down face, emotionless, like a blank page. _Did he just lose his brother?_

She felt the tears flowing down the cheeks, sobbing uncontrollably. Lydia tried to be quiet, she turned around so they wouldn't see. But her chest was going up and down and she didn't know how to calm herself down. Lydia dropped to her knees, her legs so weak all of the sudden. She covered her face, feeling stupid.

Suddenly, she felt a touch on her shoulder.

"Lyds," a soothing, quiet voice, "it's alright – it's the shock, that's all."

 _He may be right, could be the shock,_ she sobbed on though.

"I-I... you–" she got out but couldn't create any words.

"She broke down?" a different voice, arrogant tone.

"Credence...," Stiles said, like a father chastening his child. No response.

With difficulty, Stiles positioned himself in front of her, kneeling as well. He touched her hands, slowly putting them down, uncovering her red eyes.

He gave her a smile, a small one, which somehow angried her.

"How... how can you be so put together?!" she cried, "you just lost... John... I– it's my fau–,"

"Shh."

"Don't shhh me!" Lydia threw hands into the air.

"Can't we just, you know–" Creedence said but was cut of by Stiles' strict look.

"What? You can't judge me for saying it! Look at her!"

"I am looking at her," Stiles said slowly, "Her, I was actually planning on marrying once, so show her some respect."

These words hung in the air for quite a time. Credence only gave out a small "sorry", almost not audible.

Lydia was like frozen at the spot. _What did he just say? Marry me? That had to been before, he thought he'd be human forever and never encounter these people, right. I was his only hope, for sure..._

"Great," Stiles said, reacting to Lydia's stare into nothing. "Things are working out just fine," he said with irony and stood up, slowly, trying not to put weight on his left foot.

"I don't want to interrupt anything of importance," Credence said almost carefully.

 _The hierarchy between them is unbelievable,_ Lydia thought as she watched the vampire standing in front of Stiles who was hurt, a bit bowed to the side – because of the foot. But despite all this, even despite Credence standing tall, unharmed, the difference was visible. Stiles had something about him which put him above Credence.

 _Weird, a bit scary,_ Lydia thought. She had never met a person who would act towards Stiles like that.

"There's a car nearby, we could make it, use it...," Credence continued when Stiles kept his silence. He only nodded.

"Alright, so– I'll just–," Credence didn't finish his sentence and Lydia wasn't able to take in everything what had happened within the few next seconds. She only felt that something picked her up from the ground, held her tight when her cheeks were hit by fast wind around her and then.

Nothing.

She was put down on the ground again, next to a forest road. She heard a car, on the right, so she looked that way.

Her eyes widened at the sight of Credence who was holding the car slighlty above the ground by the back of the trunk.

He let that car fall down back and walked around it. Meanwhile, Lydia, who was trying to support Stiles with her own body, began slowly closing in.

After Credence said something to the driver, the back door, on the other side from where Credence was standing, opened.

 _Allison,_ only this word flashed through Lydia's head. Stiles suddenly let go of Lydia and straightened his back to look directly at her friend. Was Allison still her friend, though?

Credence stayed by the car, perhaps wanting to check on the driver. Make her wait.

Allison looked confidently at Stiles, then her eyes moved to her right, passing Lydia's gaze, ending at Credence, to whom she sent an arrogant glare. He repaid her hostility with a smirk, his eyes filled with amusement and despise.

"We don't have to make a scene here. Get back in the car, you two, too. We're going back to the city," Stiles decided. Nobody tried to disagree. Credence looked a bit disappointed but he obeyed immediately. Before he himself got in, though, he 'helped' Allison to find her way to the car, too.

Stiles limped by himself to the door and sat next to Allison, as if nothing had happened.

Lydia took the seat left to her friend whilst Credence sat next to the lady who was still shaken up.

"We're ready to go, Miss, please take us to the centre," the vampire said politely.

STILES

His ankle ached a bit due to his attempt to walk before. _Oh, well,_ he thought.

"Take us to Manhattan, Upper East Side, 87th street, for now," Stiles said to the driver who nervously shifted in her seat, glancing to her right where Credence sat, covered in dry blood.

"So, what now?" Lydia suddenly asked in a weak voice. Stiles' eyes moved to the redhead who was stifly sitting, watching her fingers on her lap. Her eyes were glassy as if she was about to cry.

He felt a sharp pain in his heart, seeing her like this. _What did I drag her into?_

When we are in New York, you should go home, Lydia. Maybe visit your dad..."

"What?" Lydia asked, confused, and looked strictly at Stiles.

"What are you planning on doing with Allison?" Lydia asked, her voice filled with worry and fright.

"Um–."

LYDIA

"What do you mean by 'Um'?" Lydia raised her voice which startled the taxidriver again.

"Lyds... this is something... I don't want you to be mixed up in it. Not any more than you are–"

"What do you mean 'not mixed up in it', Stiles? You think that I'll let my ex torture my best friend with his crazy friend over here?" she said loudly and gestured to Credence who smiled at the question which infuriated her even more. "What are you laughing at, creep?" she leaned closer to him with growing spite.

The vampire turned his head back at her with an intimidating look in his eyes which brought Lydia back into reality.

She shouldn't be yelling at a creature like this, he could snap her in two without breaking a sweat. Lydia felt Allison's gaze for the first time. She, too, felt this way. Not only because of Credence, though. The one who scared Allison most was the one on her right.

Stiles put his hand on Credence's shoulder which made the vampire turn his gaze on the road again.

"What I mean, Lydia," Stiles continued, "is that you should go on with your life. Allison was born into a family which tried to subdue us for centuries. And that's fine, everybody needs a purpose, right?" he said smugly and looked at Allison who avoided his eyes.

"So, now, I'll get Mich back. I promise that no harm will come to your friend, Lydia. I just need some information, that's all."

Lydia's breathing quickened a bit. She's never heard Stiles speak in such manner. He obviously perceived Allison and her family as a plain joke. But can he still think this way even without his mojo?

Lydia glanced into Stiles' direction, realizing that he had been looking at her, waiting for an answer.

"I– I... That doesn't matter. I want to stay by her side... I want to know what happens... to her," Lydia said, now less confident than before. Stiles looked at her for a bit and then said a simple: "Alright."

"Alright?" Lydia repeated, not believing what she just heard.

"Yeah, alright. I won't make you do something you don't want... and if you don't want to go home yet, then don't."

Lydia noticed that her friend looked surprised as well at his statement but kept her silence.

"Well, then, I stay by you," Lydia said, looking directly at Allison and grabbing her hand tightly for reassurance. Stiles smiled at her act.

Lydia wasn't certain, though, if he found it comical or if it was a genuine smile.

STILES 

The rest of the ride was silent. Stiles looked out of the window, thinking about how to handle Lydia. Not in a bad way of course. Nothing had changed about the way he felt about her. But under these circumstances, he had to uncover something which he tried to hide for so long.

It was quite easy to be all nice and kind when he was just another human amongst many, doing everyday's chores, going to work, having a girlfriend.

Sometimes, he thought of a more radical solution which in his eyes was the simpler one, but he chose a different path in the end. Why? He wasn't sure. Maybe to fit in. Maybe it was for her only.

ALLISON

They arrived sooner than she expected. She was surprised that Lydia took her side even though she was the reason her redheaded friend was captured in the first place.

Maybe she thought of Stiles' revelation being worse than Allison's. Allison was human after all. Stiles was not. Or at least he used to be different.

The brunette shook off these thoughts because she didn't know the answer to them anyways.

The car stopped and the taxidriver's fingers nervously drummed on the steering wheel.

"We're here," she announced with a distant voice.

Allison jumped up a bit from scare when suddenly Stiles looked at her.

"Allison, would you be so kind and borrowed me some money so we can pay this lady? Unfortunately, your family stripped me of all my belongings, including my wallet."

Allison froze for a bit, hearing him say these words in such nonchalant way. Her fingers unzipped her purse and fished out her pink wallet which she then handed to Stiles.

This was the first time their eyes met. Just for a second, though. She didn't want to stare.

But, if she wasn't mistaken, his gaze was not threatening, nothing like that, more like the opposite. She gulped.

Stiles took out some bills and handed them to Credence, saying only: "Could you handle the rest, please?"

After these words, he slowly got out of the taxi. Allison and Lydia stayed in the car, finally looking at each other, not sure what to do next.

"So, we hope this will be enough for all the trouble," Credence said and both the girls looked at him. Allison's eyes widened at the sight of his fingers which were elongated by dark sharp claws.

 _Is he gonna hurt her?_

No, he cut himself swiftly in the palm and a little streak of blood appeared. The taxidriver looked at his hands in shock but before she could have said anything, the blood rose in the thin air and created an circle which stayed in front of her face. Her eyes were focused on the circle and Credence said something which Allison didn't understand.

 _Is he using magic? How does he know magic?_ she asked herself.

Within seconds, the blood literally evaporated and Credence looked back at Lydia and her.

"Well, let's get out of the car, shall we?" he said and opened the door. Lydia, too, opened the door and got out, holding it open for Allison.

 _Oh, crap, here we go,_ she thought and pushed herself out of the car where the vampire, Stiles and her friend were waiting.


	24. Chapter 24 – Fragile

CREDENCE 

He didn't remember a time when Stolos was so docile around somebody. Even though, he knew a few people he cared about.

Yes, even despite Stolos' and Michendros' hobby to be reborn from time to time in a random family. Sometimes, he was jealous of it. He couldn't do it. He was a vampire.

But no, never was he so tamed by a person like this redhead. Or was it the humanity getting to him?

Could be.

It was already dark outside when they reached a door where Stiles knew the code to get in.

Stubbornly, he limped to the building himself, enduring the pain. _Tsk, I could have helped him._

To Credence's surprise, none of the girls tried to escape.

 _It wouldn't be an idiotic attempt. Some people are around. They may have a chance._

But from the looks of it, this girl of Stolos' was still a bit angry at her friend as well. He could smell it of off her. And all the quick changes in expression when she looked at the brunette. It was there, alright.

They all walked in silence.

Credence was still in shock to see Stolos in this state. A disgraceful sight. He had never seen him weakened like this. So fragile. Everything he thought before, Stolos abandoning him, the disappointment he felt, the sadness. All of it gone. All of the questions answered. The only person he had a bond with was compromised in this unthinkable way.

 _I suppose I'll get a phone now–_

The peculiar group used the lift to get to the last floor and then went to the door 091.

Again, Stolos typed in a combination of numbers which let them inside.

Credence went in last, shuting the door behind him. The girls stood awkwardly to his right and observed Stolos who was staring at a bookshelf. Then he looked at Credence and said: "Could you please get the thin notebook? It's the fifth shelf, seventh from the left."

He did as he asked. The notebook was a bit worn down and had no description. The vampire handed it to Stolos who swiftly run it through.

"These are some notes on blood magic, but the descriptions are in our native language," he said to Credence who listened carefully.

"Look here," Stolos said and showed him a page filled with text and drawings, "if you don't mind, I'd like you to fix me up before anything else."

"Of course," Credence agreed.

"Ladies, you don't have to stand around, just have a seat," Stolos said without looking at them. They exchanged looks and quietly sat down on the chairs around the dining table.

"Now, for you, you'll need at least five small spoons of my blood."

"Spoons? What's that for a measuring system?"

"I don't know, I guess Michendros was feeling like joking when he wrote this. But I know these work."

"That's a lot of blood, Stolos, where am I to put it?"

"Hm," he looked at the description once again, "let's do it at the table," he nodded to the dining table where the girls kept their silence. "It's out of glass, so I guess we can stain it a bit."

Lydia and Allison stared at the two studying the notebook, again, in silence. Only Lydia gasped when Stolos took a sharp knife and began cutting his palm.

Stolos didn't even hiss nor squinted his eyes in pain.

 _That's the man I know,_ Credence thought. It took a minute or two for the blood to gather itself in the glass which Credence has prepared in a bountiful amount.

"Okay, now, repeat these," Stolos said and nodded to a line of words in the book.

Credence read the words in his mind first to deliver the pronunciation perfectly later. And so he did.

A few other words, then. Done.

Credence handed the glass to Stolos who drunk it without hesitation.

 _Crack._ His nose came to its original place as well as his other injuries. The redhead stared at it with wide eyes, meanwhile Allison just gulped and turned her gaze elsewhere.

 _Maybe she envies the magic. Even a bloody vampire can create some. And she can't,_ he thought.

ALLISON

 _So, he can use blood magic. Terrific. It doesn't even matter Stiles can't do anything. The vampire is capable enough,_ she thought.

Stiles stood up and tested his leg.

"Perfect," he said, apparently praising the other man whose reaction was a small smile.

 _Haven't seen him smile like that before. Not this genuinely._

Allison looked at Lydia whose eyes followed Stiles who just returned the notebook to its shelf.

"Let's get started then," Stiles said and looked directly at Allison who turned her eyes to the vampire who was just cleaning the table with a dark brown cloth.

 _Tidy, for an animal..._

Hey, wait," Lydia suddenly said, "what do you wanna do?"

Stiles walked over to the table again, standing close where Lydia sat. She didn't break her stare which Allison admired.

 _She's brave. For now._

"Just to ask her something, Lyds," he said with a smile and put his palms on the table to lean on.

The vampire sat down directly in front of Allison which made her a bit nervous.

"You want some water, ladies?" Stiles asked as if they were on a friendly visit.

"Um, I'd actually appreciate it. Haven't had any since the kidnapping," Lydia said and shot a glare to Allison who sank a little more in her seat.

Stiles poured water into three glasses which he put in front of Lydia, Allison and himself.

"You had enough refreshments for today, am I right?" Stiles said without looking at his friend who just smirked at the comment.

"Allison, one question which I wanted to ask as first. Do you trust Tommy?"

Allison was a bit taken aback with this query. She did not answer, though, nor did she look at him.

She did sense his stare which was piercing her through like daggers.

"Is he the only one in the coven?" Stiles proceeded as if he had gotten his answer from her already.

Even Lydia was surprised.

Credence just looked at the three as is he was watching an entertaining show.

Allison tried to make her face expresionless, looking down at her hands but she felt that her cheeks were blushing.

Stiles picked up his glass and walked over to sit next to Allison now. He drew his chair close to her and set his elbows onto the glass table.

"Hey, I think he's really trying to convince them that you are worth it. Probably right at this moment. You were the reason they got my brother in the end. So, why are you so worried about it?"

"I am not worried about anything!" Allison caught herself bursting out on him which made the vampire grin.

"Stop trying to psychoanalyze me. You know nothing about me."

"Their coven are obsessed by the hatred for us, you know, Lyds," Stiles looked at his ex whose eyes confusingly jumped from Allison to Stiles and back.

"And I get it. We made them angry a long time ago. Or maybe it was just me. Mich was just around."

"What did you do?" Lydia asked without a breath.

"Yeah, spoiler alert, I am not the good guy in the story. I'm the good guy in barely any story, to be honest," he said with a shrug.

"You were the good guy in my story," Lydia said quietly, almost sounding sad.

"That's just the few," he said, also with a lower voice and glanced at Credence.

LYDIA

Her curiosity spiked at Stiles' look given to Credence.

 _What's their story?_

So, what did you do to her family?" Lydia asked.

"Um, not sure if it was exactly her family. Her coven consists of more families. Of course, it is possible that since then, they all merged into one big family. I never cared enough to look this information up. Maybe Mich would know, he's a bit of a bookworm," he stopped and looked at Allison as if he was expecting to add up the details he didn't know. She was silent, though. Avoiding his gaze at all times.

"Yeah, well, I think it could've been the time before Japan. Not sure. Everything gets melted together somehow–"

"Wait, wait," Lydia said, "when were you born? For real?"

"The year 82," he answered.

"What like... 1982? 1882?"

"No, just 82."

"No way."

Even Allison's eyes widened in disbelief.

 _Guess her family doesn't know much about them either._

"Yeah, in the year 99... everything changed for us. Mich is 7 years older than me. So, it was sometimes infuriating having a body of a 17-year-old all the time," he laughed a bit, lost in memories.

"But you don't look like 17," Lydia commented.

"Well, I've been human for six years now. So, my body aged, I'd hope."

"This is so weird."

"I suppose so."

"Hm, so what did you do to them?" Lydia asked once again.

"He slaughtered a whole family. The most powerful one," Allison suddenly said bitterly.

Lydia looked at Allison in shock and then turned her eyes to Stiles who was watching Allison.

"Is it true?" Lydia asked.

"Hm, it would seem that they did teach you something in your coven-revenge-school," Stiles said, scanning Allison up and down.

"How are you able to joke about that?" Lydia asked in awe.

"I wasn't trying to. I'm just surprised that even though, they don't care for her, they cared enough to make her dependant on them and they infected her with the same hatred for us even though she doesn't have to do anything to do with it."

"How can you say so! You don't know my family!" Allison cried out, her eyes glassy.

"Well, if I may say something, during the six years I was locked up there and was considered dead, I've heard your mommy talk a lot of rubbish about you," Credence said. Not in a mocking way. No. Just informing her causaly.

"That's not true, you are not going to make me talk with telling me all these lies," she said, her voice cracking a bit.

"Poor girl, a bit pathethic, but still," Credence returned to his attitude he had before.

"You know, Allison. I will get my brother back. One way or the other. It's hard to get rid of us."

"That's not true, Thomas took care of it. Your brother is gone."

Lydia was put back into reality with this sentence. _They really did kill John, then._

Stiles smiled at her and leaned closer to her.

"And are you so sure about that?" he asked, sounding like a vicious snake. This made Lydia freeze at the spot as well as Allison.

 _I guess he really isn't trying to hide anything now._

"Of course, I am. Thomas is an excellent magician," Allison said but her confident words were betrayed by her shaking voice.

"I must say, the coven you are somehow part of did really try to collect all the intel on us. Don't worry. We know. We made a lot of up too, so you'd get busy. More scared. But one thing we didn't share that much to your people. You would give up, then. That would be no fun," he said slowly, apparently enjoying every of Allison's expressions which were losing previous stubborness and defiance.

"Both me and Michendros had gained the status of a deity during all these years. He as a Slavic one. They used to call him Myesyats. And me, Japanese, despite my appearances, I know, I know. The Japanese called me Susanoo or Susanowo."

Both Lydia and Allison looked at him in disbelief. Allison's face went white and blank.

 _What does this mean for her? And... what do I do now?_

So, what I wanted to say with that... I don't think Mich will be so easy to kill."

"But– how come you're human, then?" Lydia asked, trying to use some sort of logic on the matter.

"Hmm, that was the Gomernot clan. Another family I angried, I think. They found a way how to put a curse on us. Still didn't kill us, though."

Allison's eyes sparkled a bit at the mention of the clan's name.

"Happen to know them, honey?" Credence was the first to ask.

"M-No," she said.

"Everything is so nicely connected, then. It wouldn't be by any chance be your family, would it? Are you part of the Gomernots, Allison?" Stiles said, looking at her with interest.

Allison stayed quiet but even Lydia understood.

"I must admit, your blood is like an annoying cockroach. But a very persistent one. I can't recall anyone who would be so troublesome for us."

"Could you not talk to her like that?" Lydia said strictly.

"Like what?" Stiles asked innocently.

"Like she's the last piece of garbage," Lydia said, getting creepy vibes from Stiles which made her feel like she should keep her distance.

 _He isn't anything I thought he is, is he?_

"That surely wasn't intended. But I do apologize if I struck some nerves," Stiles looked at Allison who just sat there, broken.

"Credence, we should get Tommy to join us. He'll know more about Michendros' location."

"Hm, I'll get to it. Just after I do some reading, alright?"

"Sounds swell," Stiles said and drunk all his water.

"What are you going to do with me?" Allison asked.

"I think you can sleep here tonight. I'd appreciate if you helped us look for my brother."

"What? I won't!"

Stiles touched her shoulder gently: "That's not something you can decide, Al."

"What do you think you're doing, Stiles?!" Lydia cried out and rose to her feet to defend Allison. But before she could act in any way, he grabbed her by her wrists and drew them to his chest.

"As I promised, Lydia, no harm will come to her, alright?"

"No, let go!" Lydia resisted but she couldn't get out, it was as if her hands were locked up in one place.

"Lydia," he said soothingly.

"Let me go, you monster," she yelled now, her eyes wet, ready to cry.

At these words, he finally let her go. Lydia stared him into his eyes which were blank, unreadable.

Even both Allison and Credence watched them, not breathing.

Lydia felt lost, heartbroken. _How can be so cruel? After all this time she was with him. Never did he do anything remotely like this. And now..._

She turned away, couldn't look at him, not anymore.

"Lyds," Allison suddenly said and walked to her, "it's alright. It's my problem. I got myself mixed up in this. You should go home..."

"Stop everybody telling me to go fucking home like to a stupid ass kid!" she screamed at her and covered her face with her palms.

 _Crying again, great._

Stay, then," Stiles said monotonously, "I meant it well. But do whatever you want."

 _Why does he sound so cold?_ Lydia continued to cry in Allison's embrace now.

She only overheard Credence say: "Are you for real?"

STILES

It was night. Credence showed the girls to the guest room where they shared a bed. They both fell asleep pretty quickly.

 _Had to be exhausted. Mentally and physically. The mental part might be my fault._

Stiles was sitting at the kitchen table where all the drama happened a few hours ago.

"Hey," Credence appeared in front of him.

"Hey," Stiles replied.

"So... you know, I could make her forget..."

"No, don't use any of your mojo on her."

"Hm. Okay. What's your plan, though? Make her hate you so much she'll leave on her own?"

"I'm not sure, Credence."

"No?"

"No... I want her to stick by, but on the other hand... I don't."

"How bipolar."

"Hm."

"You must really love her. I've never seen you so puzzled about somebody. Maybe not even your own brother."

"It's different with Mich."

"Is it?

"Yeah, he can protect himself. And he knows me. The real _me."_

Well, if you've lived like this for six years, Stolos... maybe it is also you."

"Yeah, maybe I don't even know who I am anymore," Stiles chuckled.

"You always came back to the Stolos I knew... or got to know after–"

"Is that so, my Master?"

"Come on, don't make fun of me."

"Am not, just remembering."

"Yeah... I was terrified of you but at the same time... I was glad having you around. You were the closest person I had."

"Hm, shouldn't've left then."

"Important thing is that you came back. You always do somehow."

"I was too late, though."

"You had no idea. Don't beat yourself up about it."

"Nah, I just didn't care. If it wasn't for Mich–"

"Leave it. I know the story. You don't need to punish yourself for it."

"...I don't want to stop caring for her, Cred."

"So, don't."

"But I don't want to ruin her life. I can't even protect her in this state. And I can't afford loving anyone... fragile."

"Hm."

"Otherwise, next time it won't be 'only' kidnapping and imprisoning her with you as a cell mate."


End file.
